German GDP growth picks up sharply

German GDP growth picks up sharply

Published: May 13, 2016 3:31 a.m. ET

Economic acceleration contrasts with slowdowns in the U.S. and the U.K.

By

NinaAdam

German economic growth accelerated sharply in the first quarter, led by domestic consumption and brisk construction activity, the Federal Statistical Office said Friday.
Destatis said Germany’s gross domestic product grew at a quarterly rate of 0.7% in the first three months of the year, which translates into an annualized rate of 2.7% and is more than double the rate of 0.3% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a slightly smaller quarterly gain of 0.6%.
Germany’s pickup contrasts with slowdowns in the U.S. and the U.K. Barring any big upward surprises from Japan and Canada, which have yet to release first-quarter GDP numbers, it makes Germany the fastest-growing out of the seven leading industrialized economies.

But economists cautioned that Europe’s largest economy probably won’t be able to maintain its brisk pace in the second quarter, given lackluster global demand and stubbornly weak corporate investment.
Germany’s stellar showing at the start of the year, they said, was partly the result of the mild winter weather buoying construction activity and catch-up effects from a weak end to 2015.
“Positive impulses came mainly from the domestic economy,” Destatis said.
Public spending rose from the fourth quarter, Destatis said, as the government faces rising costs related to the record influx of migrants. A buoyant labor market and low energy prices, meanwhile, continued to fuel household demand. Net trade however weighed slightly on GDP growth in the first quarter, as imports rose more strongly than exports.
“The first quarter was strong. But, taken together with the second quarter, I don’t think there has been a marked acceleration in Germany’s actual growth momentum,” said Oliver Rakau, an economist at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.
Later Friday, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and some eastern and central European countries are also due to publish GDP data.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal last week forecast that the eurozone’s economy as a whole grew at a quarterly rate of 0.6% in the first three months of the year, in line with the European Union statistics agency’s flash GDP estimate from late April. Eurostat is due to update its GDP estimate at 5 a.m. Eastern Time Friday.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/german-gdp-growth-picks-up-sharply-2016-05-13