By Maria Martinez 
 

Germany's economy grew in the third quarter on the back of consumption, avoiding a forecast recession, according to a first estimate published Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office.

Gross domestic product increased by an adjusted 0.1% from the previous quarter, according to Destatis. This was better than economists' expectations of a 0.1% contraction in The Wall Street Journal's survey.

"The quarter-on-quarter comparison shows that positive contributions in the third quarter of 2019 mainly came from consumption," Destatis said, citing an increase in household and government consumption.

Exports rose, while imports remained roughly at the level of the second quarter. Gross fixed capital formation went up in construction in comparison with the previous quarter, while decreasing in machinery and equipment.

The agency also revised its second-quarter data. Following the revision, Germany's GDP decreased 0.2% in the second quarter of 2019, compared with a first estimate of a 0.1% decline.

GDP grew 0.5% on year in the third quarter on a calendar and price-adjusted basis, Destatis said, in line with a Wall Street Journal poll of economists.

In the third quarter, Germany employed 45.4 million people, an increase of 0.8% compared with the same period in 2018.

Recent indicators have sent mixed signals on the German economy, with improvements in manufacturing orders but weak data on industrial production, which suffered its fifth consecutive quarterly contraction.

Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 14, 2019 03:35 ET (08:35 GMT)