Europe’s economic growth in this year’s first quarter has been revised upwards.
The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, said that the gross domestic product (GDP) of
the 19 countries sharing the Euro currency rose 0.3% this year between January and March, for
5.1% annualized growth.
The stronger than expected growth resulted from solid employment gains during Q1 and comes
despite the war in Ukraine that began in February of this year. Eurostat had earlier estimated
Europe’s first-quarter growth rate at 0.2% and 5.0% year-over-year.
The data shows that the euro zone expanded at the same quarterly pace in the first three
months of 2022 as in the last three months of 2021, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine
that began on February 24, which disrupted global supply chains and increased energy prices.
Employment growth in Europe during Q1 averaged 2.6% year-on-year, Eurostat said,
accelerating from 2.1% annual growth in the previous three months.
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