ECONOMIC growth in the eurozone slowed unexpectedly in the third quarter as weaker foreign trade held back leaders Germany and France, and with much of the rest of the bloc underperforming.

    The 19-member eurozone grew by 0.3 percent in the third quarter, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said Friday, reinforcing expectations that the European Central Bank will expand its monetary stimulus next month. In the second quarter, it had grown by 0.4 percent.

    “The eurozone recovery is continuing, but it seems like driving with the handbrake on,” said ING economist Vanden Houte.

    “We believe that the ECB has actually already made up its mind and that today’s figures are not strong enough to deter hem from going ahead with the intended easing.”

    On Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi underlined the bank’s readiness to extend money printing, warning that a key measure of economic health — price inflation — was flagging. ECB policymakers’ next key meeting is Dec. 3.

    Highlighting the weak price pressures in much of the eurozone, figures from Spain showed inflation there fell 0.7 percent year on year in October.

    Spain’s economic growth is otherwise a rare eurozone bright spot, expanding by 0.8 percent according to preliminary data issued earlier. Its recovery, however, is failing to bridge a growing gulf between rich and poor, storing up problems for an already-strained social security system.

    The eurozone’s two largest economies, Germany and France, both grew by 0.3 percent in the third quarter but the expansion in both countries was held back by foreign trade as export sectors suffered from a slowdown in emerging markets.

    Aggregated eurozone growth was lower than expected mainly because growth in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Finland all underperformed market expectations.(SD-Agencies)