European Economy. Quarterly report on the euro area 2006.

Abstract

Recent economic data give grounds for optimism. Activity in the euro area has returned to a solid growth path with GDP growing above potential in the first quarter. This brings 'hard' activity data back in line with 'soft' survey data and confirms that the disappointing GDP reading at the end of last year was only a technical blip. In other words, we can now be more confident that the marked improvement in business confidence in the last few months really reflects a robust underlying momentum in the euro-area economy and was not just a statistical anomaly.