New figures from France, Germany and Italy -- the three biggest economies in the 12-country Eurozone- suggest the continent’s economic woes may have been exaggerated. In France, evidence emerged that consumer spending remained solid in July and August, rising 1.4% and 0.6% respectively. Forecasters had generally expected the July figure to show a 0.1% slippage, with August unchanged. But the figures were flattered slightly by a down grade to the June figure, to 0.7% from 1.5%.
With manufacturing in the doldrums across Europe and the U. S. , consumer spending has been increasingly seen as the best hope of stopping the global economic slowdown from turning into a recession. The French government said the news proved that the economy was holding up to the strain of the slowdown.
Meanwhile in Germany, new regional price figures went someway towards calming fears about inflation in Europe’s largest economy -- a key reason for the European Central Ban
A. new figures from the three European countries show the prediction of forecasters is exactly right
B. European economy gets on better than forecasters have predicted
C. all of the forecasters expect the fully figure to show a reduction
D. in three European countries the consumer spending continues to rise
我来回答:
