Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Eurozone Recession Comes to an End The eurozone has finally emerged from a crippling 18-month recession, due to higher than expected growth in Germany and France. The European Union`s statistics office, Eurostat, says the 17 EU countries that use the euro saw their collective GDP (gross domestic product) grow by 0.3 percent in a three month period ending in June. In the first quarter the economy shrank 0.3 percent, extending the recession for a record six quarters - the longest period since the euro`s launch. The improvement was largely due to growth among the eurozone`s largest members: Germany, whose economy increased by 0.7 percent, and France which saw a quarterly growth of 0.5 percent. Another country with a surprising improvement was Portugal which had an expansion of 1.1 percent, an increase that came despite taking an economic bailout and reporting record-high unemployment. Analysts say they do not expect the eurozone to return to sustained economic growth until 2015. __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/eurozone-recession-comes-to-an-end/17 29537.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/eurozone-recession-comes-to-an-end/1729537.html