What's going on?

Europe had una cat�strofe on Friday: a flurry of nicht gut economic data showed growth in its major economies is � how do you say � merde.

What does this mean?

New data revealed the eurozone�s economy grew just 0.1% last quarter � slower than the 0.2% investors were expecting. And that was down to a whole host of probl�mes across its major economies.

Just look at Italy: its economy shrank 0.3% last quarter, when it was actually forecast to grow by 0.1%. Things were similarly d�sagr�able in France, where a series of strikes (quelle surprise) seems to have killed the country�s vibe: the economy shrank last quarter, dragging annual economic growth down from 2018 levels. And over in Germany, December retail sales fell 3.3% from a month earlier � significantly worse than the 0.5% growth investors were hoping for. Only Spain saw economic growth pick up, but even that was its weakest since 2014. No me gusta.

Why should I care?

For markets: Tr�s interessant…
Investors in France might want to take this data with a pinch of salt. One of the reasons the country underperformed last quarter was because companies were clearing out their inventories rather than making new products. Without that hopefully one-off occurrence, growth would�ve actually been positive � perhaps why investment bank Barclays remains �cautiously optimistic� about France�s future. What�s more, investors reckon the weak data might encourage Europe�s central bank to cut interest rates � despite increasing inflation.

The bigger picture: Y�all seeing this?
The situation was better in the US, where the economy grew 2.3% last year. But that�s still below 2018�s 2.9% increase, and well below the 3% growth the US government expected its tax cuts to stimulate. Things don�t look like they�ll pick up much this year, either: growth is forecast to slow to just 1.8%. And with November�s election looming, that could prove a sticking point for the sitting US president�