BRUSSELS, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The European Union's statistical office said Friday the euro zone -- where the euro is the shared currency -- had climbed out of recession.
Eurostat said the gross domestic product in the third quarter among the 16 euro zone countries grew by 0.4 percent compared with the second quarter, The New York Times reported Friday.
The gross domestic product in the euro zone had shrunk in the five previous quarters and it has atrophied so much this year's third-quarter growth put the GDP at 4.1 percent lower than a year ago.
In Germany, Europe's largest economy grew 0.7 percent after growing 0.4 percent in the second quarter. In France, the GDP has grown 0.3 percent for two quarters in a row.
Analysts have called the recovery tentative. "I fear a bit for what will happen when all these programs are phased out in coming months," said Helge Pedersen, chief economist at Nordea, referring to government measures put in place to spur a recovery.
Growth in France "is still rather weak and reliant upon the stimulus package put in place by the authorities," ING analyst Oscar Bernal said.
