European economies tread water above recession

Italy inflation of 11.9%

Major European economies teetering above a recession, with new data showing that France and Spain's GDP growth dropped to 0.2% in Q3.

The poor GDP growth across the continent was often accompanied by higher than expected inflation numbers, with Italy's inflation especially severe at 11.9%, compared to a forecast of 9.6%. This was the highest level for the country since 1984. French inflation also came in above what had been forecasted at 7.1% in October, up from 6.2% in September. However, Spain managed to come in below expectations on inflation, at 7.3%, down from 9% in September and below the 8.1% expected by economists. ECB raises interest rates to highest level since 2009 The poor economic data followed ye...