Gross domestic product (GDP), the total production of goods and services, was almost unchanged from the previous quarter.
Germany is very exposed to the tensions in international trade, and the weak new figures partly reflect a fall in overseas exports.
Compared with the same period in 2018, GDP was higher by just 0.4%.
Although there was some expansion, growth was reported at 0.0% when rounded to one decimal place by the German statistics office.
The sluggish performance was down partly to a decline in exports.
Investment in machinery and equipment was also “down considerably” between October and December.
The statistics office doesn’t offer an explanation, but it is certainly possible that that reflects the uncertain outlook for international trade.
One factor that is likely to weigh on manufacturing firms when considering whether to invest is what sort of barriers they will face which could make it more difficult to sell their goods abroad.
Exporting really matters to German industry.
The country is the third-largest exporter of goods after the United States and China, which are both much larger economies.
Germany is very exposed to the tensions in international trade that have arisen, or at least become more intense, since US President Donald Trump took office.
That related directly to new tariffs that his administration has applied to aluminium and steel tariffs, and indirectly to the trade war between the US and China.
Because both countries are important markets for German industry, any damage they inflict on one another can affect sales of German goods.
Germany would also be vulnerable if President Donald Trump was to act on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on imports of cars from the European Union.
Weak economic growth
Economic growth in Germany has been relatively weak over the last two years.
There have been two quarters when GDP has declined. These have not taken place consecutively though, so there has been no recession as the term is often defined – two back-to-back quarters of negative growth.
It confirmed its earlier estimate that the eurozone managed growth of just 0.1% in the last quarter of 2019.
Germany is the area’s largest economy, so the eurozone’s figures are, as a matter of arithmetic, dragged down when Germany has a weak period.
But the next two largest economies also had a bad end to last year. Both Italy and France saw their national economies shrink.
Bright spots
There are some bright spots in the eurozone, though. Ireland has stood out with strong growth for some time, although there are no figures available yet for the most recent period.
While Germany and the eurozone may have had a downbeat period in terms of growth, employment has been more encouraging.
New figures show an increase of 0.3% in the number of people who do have jobs in the eurozone.
Germany has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world.
The eurozone as whole is higher, and some countries notably Spain and Greece still have a serious problem.
But for both the eurozone and those nations, unemployment has fallen far from the highs it reached in the last decade.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
