The German data showed that growth slowed to 0.3% in the first quarter, from 0.7% and 0.6% in the final two quarters of last year. Meanwhile, the Japanese economy actually contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter, the first decline in nine quarters. We already knew that UK growth slowed sharply in the opening quarter of 2018, with GDP rising by just 0.1%, the weakest rate since 2012. In the US, the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter, the slowest rate in the past year. It is not surprising, then, that the IMF is forecasting close to 4% growth for the world economy in both 2018 and 2019.

Source: Irish Examiner May 22, 2018 00:33 UTC