Eurozone GDP up 0.2pc in Q1

BRUSSELS, June 4 (Xinhua): The eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, according to seasonally adjusted data released by Eurostat on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the economy in the 28-nation European Union (EU) expanded 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter, the statistics office said.
Both areas posted a slower pace in GDP expansion due to export sector's weaker performance. It increased 0.3 per cent in the eurozone and 0.4 per cent in the EU, suggesting a mixed picture for a European economic recovery.
The biggest upward impact on GDP growth was gross fixed capital formation, which increased 0.9 per cent in the eurozone and 1 per cent in the EU.
Household final consumption expenditure edged up 0.1 per cent in the eurozone and 0.2 per cent in the EU.
Among states whose data are available for the first quarter, Hungary and Poland posted the highest quarterly growth of 1.1 per cent, followed by Denmark and Germany, which grew 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
The Netherlands, Estonia, Cyprus and Portugal registered the largest decreases, slipping more than 0.5 per cent in the quarter.