OVERVIEW Growth is Economic activity in the EU and euro-area economies has started to slow. moderating... GDP growth eased to 0.5% quarter-on-quarter (qoq) in the EU in the last quarter of 2007 and to 0.4% in the euro area. This represents a moderation by 0.3 percentage point (pp.) in both regions compared to the exceptional performance observed in the third quarter. For 2007 as a whole, GDP growth amounted to 2.8% in the EU (2.6% in the euro area), still well above estimates of potential growth. Growth was supported by sound domestic fundamentals that boosted investment and, to a lesser degree, private consumption growth. ...not surprisingly, in However, the moderation in growth towards the end of last year did not come view of the shocks as a surprise in view of the turmoil in financial markets, which broke out last summer and is still persisting, and the marked slowdown of
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