Growth slows at end of 2021 in 19 countries that use euro

By DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Economic growth in the 19 countries that use the euro slowed down at the end of last year. The European Union’s statistics agency said Monday that growth in last three months of 2021 was at 0.3%, down from 2.2% in the July-September quarter. The European economy slowed as surging COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant piled on top of supply shortages and rising energy prices that dented consumer purchasing power. The result is an economic winter of discontent that may not lift until later this year. Growth came in at 5.2% for the year, underlining how Europe’s economic recovery from the pandemic has lagged behind the rebound in the U.S.