Germany and France Power Euro-Area Growth - Bloomberg

Germany and France powered economic
growth in the euro area in the first quarter as booming exports
fueled domestic spending in the bloc’s core, offsetting turmoil
sparked by sovereign debt woes in Greece, Ireland and Portugal.German gross domestic product jumped 1.5 percent from the
fourth quarter and the French GDP rose 1 percent, exceeding
economists’ median forecasts of 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent
respectively. Austria’s economy grew 1 percent and Holland’s
expanded 0.9 percent. First-quarter GDP figures for the 17-
nation euro region are due from the European Union’s statistics
office in Luxembourg at 11 a.m.