Eurozone economy expanded by 0.4% in Q1

BRUSSELS - The eurozone economy expanded by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous quarter, according to the second estimate of the EU's statistics agency, in line with the preliminary estimate released two weeks ago.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, gross domestic product (GDP) had grown by 0.7 percent in the euro area.

On a yearly basis, the first quarter GDP has grown up 2.5 percent.

"We think that the slowdown in eurozone GDP growth in Q1 largely reflected temporary effects. So we remain optimistic that the economy will perform better over the rest of the year," said Jack Allen, European Economist at Capital Economics.

Allen said most of the national data suggest that growth was driven by investment, while household spending slowed and net trade was a drag.

"We forecast growth of 2.3 percent this year, 2.0 percent in 2019 and 1.7 percent in 2020," he added.