German economy rebounds in Q2 on solid domestic demand

The German economy rebounded in the second quarter thanks to a strong pickup in domestic demand, final data released Friday showed. Gross domestic product (GDP) in Europe's biggest economy expanded by a solid 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to the end of June, after stagnating in the first quarter, the Federal Statistics Office said as it confirmed preliminary estimates. Helping to power second-quarter growth was a 2.6-per-cent surge in the building industry, which had been badly hit by Europe's protracted winter weather. While consumer spending went up by 0.5 per cent, government spending rose 0.6 per cent, the statistics office said. Corporate investment, including spending on new machinery, climbed 0.9 per cent. Reflecting the recent uncertain performance of the global economy and the recession in the eurozone, foreign trade contributed only 0.2 per cent to the nation's growth performance, the data showed.