FRANKFURT, Germany | Germany barely avoids recession with zero growth

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany narrowly avoided a recession in the fourth quarter, reporting no growth as foreign trade made little contribution to Europe‘s largest economy.

The result was weaker than the 0.1 percent growth expected by market analysts and added to negative signs piling up about the 19-country eurozone economy.

The lackluster figure released Thursday by the state statistics…

FRANKFURT, Germany | Germany barely avoided recession in Q4 with zero growth

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany narrowly avoided a recession in the fourth quarter, reporting only zero growth as foreign trade made little contribution to Europe‘s largest economy.

The lackluster figure released Thursday by the state statistics agency followed a 0.2 percent fall in output during the preceding third quarter. Business spending on machinery and equipment as well as construction…

FRANKFURT, Germany | Economists: Hard Brexit would hit German auto industry hard

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A no-deal Brexit could affect more than 100,000 jobs in Germany, and regions of the country with Volkswagen and BMW factories would be among those worst hit, according to economists at a prominent nonprofit institute.

The economists from the Halle Institute for Economic Research said Monday they modeled what would happen if imports to Britain from the remaining European…

BERLIN | Clouds grow over German economy after stocks hit bear market

BERLIN— Worries are growing about the strength of the German economy, Europe’s largest, after a key indicator suggested fears about trade wars and Brexit are hitting business activity and after the country’s main stocks index slid into a bear market.

The Ifo Institute said Tuesday its business confidence index dropped to 101.0 points for December from 102.0 points in November as managers’ view of…

FRANKFURT, Germany | EU leaders agree small steps to buttress euro

FRANKFURT, Germany — European leaders agreed Friday to press ahead with a limited, common eurozone budget and other steps to strengthen the currency union’s resistance to downturns and crises.

The budget proposal leaves its size undefined and it appeared to fall short of more sweeping ideas pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The European Union leaders said that finance ministers would…

FRANKFURT, Germany | European Central Bank ends stimulus despite growth worries

FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank is halting the stimulus program that for almost four years has supported the eurozone economy — despite new risks including global trade wars and Brexit.

Thursday’s decision by the bank’s 25-member governing council to stop monthly bond purchases at year end closes out a 2.6-trillion euro ($3 trillion) effort that President Mario Draghi credits with…

FRANKFURT, Germany | VW wants to storm car market with cheaper electric model

FRANKFURT, Germany — Volkswagen intends to invest 44 billion euros ($50 billion) in the electric and autonomous car technologies expected to reshape the industry — and said it would make battery-powered vehicles more accessible to mass-market auto buyers by selling its new I.D. compact for about what a Golf diesel costs.

The investment plans for the next five years aim to make Volkswagen “a…