The eurozone is still struggling with economic growth much weaker than expected in the first three months of this year and wide regional differences. <br /><br />The economy of the 18 countries that use the euro expanded just 0.2 percent from the previous three months, half the 0.4 percent that experts had predicted. <br /><br />Click here for more details from Eurostat<br /><br />A breakdown by country shows a very mixed picture.<br /><br />Germany – the region’s largest economy posted strong growth – 0.8 percent, in stark contrast to the second biggest France which stagnated. <br /><br />Italy, which is third largest, contracted, while Spain, the fourth biggest, managed growth of 0.4 percent. <br /><br />Berlin expects domestic demand to drive growth of 1.8 percent this year.<br /><br />German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says everything points to a broad economic pickup there.<br /><br />According to the statistics office the positives came exclusively from within Germany, with foreign trade a negative.<br /><br />France’s economy would have contracted but for government spending and changes to inventories.<br /><br />Paris’s prediction of 1.0 percent growth for 2014 is looking increasingly unlikely which mean it won’t meet its debt and deficit reduction targets for this year and next. <br /><br />Italy’s economy had been expected to expand 0.2 percent instead it shrank by 0.1 percent, prompting questions about the sustainability of a fragile recovery begun at the end of last year.<br /><br />Amid weak industrial orders, low business morale and high unemployment, the strong euro is another problem, holding back growth through downward pressure on import prices and exports.
