German, French GDP Rebounds in Third Quarter on Private Spending

German and French economic growth rebounded in the third quarter on stronger consumer spending, even as the region braces for a recession sparked by an escalating sovereign debt crisis.

Gross domestic product in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, rose 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it increased 0.3 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. The French economy, Europe’s second-biggest, expanded 0.4 percent after contracting 0.1 percent in the previous period. The growth data were in line with the median forecasts in Bloomberg News surveys of economists.