Euro zone economic growth revised up with household, business support

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone gross domestic product (GDP) grew by slightly more than initially estimated, data from the European statistics agency Eurostat showed on Wednesday, with household spending and business investment propping up the economy.

Eurostat said GDP growth in the third quarter was 0.3% in the 19-country euro area in the July-September period from the previous quarter and 2.3% year-on-year, above its flash estimates of 0.2% and 2.1% published in mid-November.

Household spending added 0.4 percentage points to euro zone growth and gross fixed capital formation 0.8 points. The contribution from government expenditure was negligible, while trade was a net negative of 1.1 percentage points.

The strongest growth, of 2.3%, was recorded in Ireland, with Malta and Cyprus both expanding at 1.3%. The steepest declines were in Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia.

Employment levels also expanded in the euro zone by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, the same pace as in the second quarter of 2022.

For further details of Eurostat data click on:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/news-releases

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)