Economic growth slows in Europe

The European Commission's data office said economic growth in Europe slowed in the third quarter of 2013, dropping to 0.1 percent in the eurozone. In its third and final estimate of the currency region's gross domestic product, Eurostat said growth declined from the second quarter's 0.3 percent, although the gains meant the region stayed marginally away from recession, widely defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. In the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, the GDP shrank 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. In the larger 28-member European Union, third quarter GDP growth was posted at 0.2 percent, a drop from 0.4 percent in the second quarter, when the EU pulled out of a prolonged recession. The eurozone's growth was negative from the fourth quarter of 2011 through the first quarter of 2013. The EU's economy mirrored that of the eurozone, the 18 countries that use the euro as currency, except for the third quarter of 2012, when the economy was flat.