OECD GDP Growth Eases In Q1

(RTTNews) - The combined real gross domestic product of the 34-member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development grew at a slower pace in the first quarter, a quarterly report from the OECD showed Tuesday.

Real gross domestic product advanced 0.3 percent in the first quarter, slower than the 0.5 percent expansion seen a quarter ago.

Among the major seven economies, growth slowed most significantly in the United States to 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent and that in Germany fell to 0.3 percent from 0.7 percent.

Growth halved in the United Kingdom to 0.3 percent from 0.6 percent in the previous quarter.

On the other hand, economic growth picked up strongly in France to 0.6 percent after showing flat growth in the previous quarter. In Italy, real GDP grew 0.3 percent for the first time since the third quarter of 2013.

The euro area continued to show marginal improvement in the first quarter, with GDP rising 0.4 percent, faster than the 0.3 percent seen in the fourth quarter.

Elsewhere, in Japan, growth doubled to 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent.

Year-on-year, GDP growth for the OECD area increased marginally to 1.9 percent in the first quarter from 1.8 percent in the previous quarter.