Eurozone economy slows in third quarter

The eurozone's economy grew by 0.3% in the third quarter of the year, official figures have shown.

Growth in the 19-nation bloc has slowed from 0.4% in the previous quarter and 0.5% in the January-to-March period, the Eurostat figures show.

Germany's economy slowed in the third quarter of the year, but growth in France picked up.

Spain enjoyed a growth rate of 0.8%, but Greece's economy contracted by 0.5%.

Higher imports

Germany's economy grew by 0.3% in the July-to-September period, down from 0.4% in the previous quarter.

The country's Federal Statistics Office said the economy had shown "continued moderate growth".

It said growth was helped by increased domestic consumption, but it added foreign trade "had a downward effect on growth because the increase in imports was markedly larger than that of exports".

The French economy also grew by 0.3% in the same period, but this marked a pick-up from zero growth previously.

The French statistics agency INSEE said a rise in imports had also weighed on the country's growth rate.

But it added that the economy saw an increase in household spending, and that production of goods and services picked up.

INSEE also confirmed that the economy recorded a zero growth rate in the second quarter of the year, and grew by 0.7% in the January-to-March period.

"The (GDP) figure... confirms that we have left in 2015 the period of very weak growth that France had experienced since 2011," said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin.