The unexpected contraction in the euro area economy during the third quarter as well as inflation slowing to a more than two-year low in November reflects the impact of the aggressive monetary policy tightening stance adopted by the European Central Bank so far but the stage is still not set for a rate cut as inflation is forecast to stay "higher for longer".
Gross domestic product registered a quarterly contraction of 0.1 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to the 0.2 percent expansion in the second quarter, Eurostat said in its preliminary flash estimate, released Tuesday.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.