Spain GDP Growth Slows In Q1

(RTTNews) - Spain's economic growth softened, as estimated, in the first quarter, final data from the statistical office INE showed Thursday.

Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent from the fourth quarter, in line with the estimate published on April 30. This was slower than the 0.8 percent expansion seen in the previous quarter.

Domestic demand contributed 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth and external demand provided 0.1 percentage points.

Household consumption expenditure gained 0.6 percent and government consumption climbed 0.5 percent. At the same time, gross fixed capital formation edged up only 0.1 percent.

Exports of goods and services decreased 0.6 percent and imports dropped 1.0 percent. On a yearly basis, GDP growth improved marginally to 2.7 percent, as initially estimated, from 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter.

Further, data showed that full time employment increased 2.8 percent in the first quarter from the last year.