Germany’s latest numbers could be good news for the global economy

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STEVE CHIOTAKIS: Today we’re seeing European growth slowing down a bit. German exports fell in October.

But as Marketplace’s Europe Correspondent Stephen Beard reports, there could be some good news for the global recovery in Germany’s latest numbers.

STEPHEN BEARD: Germany sold fewer goods abroad in October. Exports are expected to grow next year but far more slowly than before. Budget cuts elsewhere in Europe are undermining demand for German cars and other products.

But there’s a silver lining in the latest batch of economic figures. The German recovery is now well underway. Unemployment has fallen to an eighteen year low. And, says commentator Heinze Schulte, as a result those frugal Germans are finally throwing open their pocketbooks.

HEINZE SCHULTE: It is because if the economy is in better shape, people are not so much worried about losing their jobs and that means they start spending again.

Germany’s European partners have long urged it to sell less and buy more. But no one should expect an American-style spending spree. German consumer demand is expected to rise by about one and a half percent in the year ahead.

In London this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.