The euro zone's economy grew for the sixth consecutive month in May, but the pace of growth has slowed for the past three months, the Centre for Economic Policy Research said today.
EuroCOIN, the CEPR's monthly indicator of business in the 12 countries that use the euro, rose to 0.626 in May from an upwardly revised April figure of 0.591.
EuroCOIN was negative from September to December last year, but slipped back into positive territory in January and has remained positive ever since.
Growth is now approximately level with the 15-year average rate for the area, the CEPR statement said.
EuroCOIN tracks monthly growth for the euro zone after measurement errors and very short-term fluctuations are removed.
It represents a three-month growth rate of GDP and is made up of 1,000 variables from the six largest euro zone economies.