As France and Germany underperform, 18-country eurozone shows zero growth in second quarter
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Europe's shaky economic recovery ground to a halt in the second quarter amid fears over the crisis in Ukraine and softer trade and investment.
The main reasons behind the flat outcome for the 18-country eurozone was a 0.2 percent quarterly decline in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, and a second straight quarter of zero growth in France, the No. 2 economy.
The outcome reported by the European Union's statistics office Thursday was slightly lower than the 0.1 percent growth expectation in the markets.
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Economists say fears the Ukraine crisis may escalate are making companies hesitate to invest and consumers to postpone spending. A lack of economic reforms in France has also played a role. So did a mild German winter that shifted construction from the second quarter to the first.