German economy grounds to a halt

Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, saw a near stalling in 2Q11 as its GDP grew by just 0.1 percent between April and June, according to the country’s Federal Statistics Office.
 
The figure, which was below market expectations of 0.5 percent, marks a substantial drop from the downwardly amended 1Q11 increase of 1.3 percent and raises concerns over the wider eurozone and global economy.
 
A decrease in consumer spending and capital formation in construction were largely responsible for the slowdown while investments and exports were “positive contributors” over the last quarter, according to the statistics office.
 
The result comes just a week after the French and US economy posted similarly poor GDP growth for the same quarter.