By Ed Frankl
The euro-area economy stabilized in the fourth quarter of 2023, avoiding an expected recession, despite weakness at its largest member and former growth engine, Germany.
Gross domestic product, which tracks economic activity in the bloc, was flat in October to December compared with the previous quarter, preliminary data from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat showed Tuesday.
The reading was better than the 0.1% contraction expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Should GDP have fallen by that level, the economy would have met the criteria of a technical recession, after the economy shrank 0.1% in the third quarter of 2023.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com
