Third Quarter Growth Slows in Italy

Well since this data falls broadly in line with what I have been saying, we could classify this in the no further comment department. Obviously the really interesting data will come in quarters one and two of 2007.

Italy's economy, Europe's fourth- largest, grew in the third quarter at half the pace of the previous three months, adding to signs that the expansion in the euro region is losing momentum.

Italy's gross domestic product increased 0.3 percent from the second quarter when it expanded a revised 0.6 percent, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg, said today. Growth was slower than the 0.5 percent median forecast of 31 economists polled by Bloomberg News.

Italian growth has trailed that of the economy of the dozen countries sharing the euro for at least a decade and continued to lag behind in the third quarter. Growth in the euro zone slowed to 0.5 percent in the period from 0.9 percent, suggesting five interest rate increases by the European Central Bank in the past year is slowing the expansion.....

Today's decline is the latest sign that European growth may be slowing in the fourth quarter. France's economy unexpectedly ground to a halt in the third quarter. Germany, the region's largest economy, grew a slower-than-expected 0.6 percent in the third quarter, about half the pace of the revised 1.1 percent rate of the previous three months, a government report showed today.

Of course all eyes now move over to the ECB to see just exactly what happens next. Claus Vistesen, who has also been covering the eurozone slowdown had a piece earlier in the week on the French data.