Germany barely avoided recession in Q4 with zero growth
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany narrowly avoided a recession in the fourth quarter, reporting only zero growth as foreign trade made little contribution to Europe’s largest economy.
The lackluster figure released Thursday by the state statistics agency followed a 0.2 percent fall in output during the preceding third quarter. Business spending on machinery and equipment as well as construction supported the economy in the fourth quarter and kept Germany from suffering two straight quarters of negative growth, one definition of a recession.