The Spanish economy overcame the country’s political impasse to grow more than forecast in the second quarter, keeping the pace of the recovery alive. Output grew 0.8 percent in the three months through June, the Madrid-based National Statistics Office said Thursday, beating an initial reading of 0.7 percent expansion. From a year ago, the economy expanded 3.2 percent, while adding about 484,000 new jobs. The country has been grappling with a political impasse after two inconclusive elections that stripped caretaker Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of his parliamentary majority. Despite the political deadlock, the Rajoy administration sees the economy growing to 2.9 percent this year up from a previous forecast of 2.7 percent, before slowing to 2.3 percent in 2017.

Source: The Standard August 25, 2016 15:00 UTC