Eurozone

Eurozone avoids recession but inflation picks up

The European economy is doing better than expected even if core inflation is taking longer to slow, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said

There was bad news on the inflation front, though, with consumer-price gains accelerating this month in France and Spain. Picture: Getty

The euro zone dodged a winter recession by growing at the start of 2023, despite inflation remaining a menace.

The 20-nation economy expanded by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, falling short of the 0.2 per cent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. France and Italy bounced back from negative readings in the final months of last year, while Spain gathered momentum and Germany stagnated.

There was bad news on the inflation ...