Denmark - GDP figures end recession talk

Growth figures released by Statistics Denmark on 31 August show that the economy grew by one percent in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile first quarter figures were revised up. Taken together, the pair of announcements officially put an end to the country's six-month recession.
The moderate economic expansion in the second quarter was spurred by increasing investment, higher exports and improving job figures, according to Statistics Denmark.
Consumer spending, however, continued to remain soft, falling 0.3 percent.
Since January, gross domestic product (GDP) has expanded by 1.8 percent compared with the first six months of 2010.
Initial first quarter figures showed a decline in GDP. That, combined with declining growth rates in the fourth quarter of 2010, meant the country met the official definition of economic recession.
The revision to the first quarter figures, however, mean the country was never actually in a recession.
Experts had predicted Statistics Denmark to announce growth rates of around 0.5 percent, but called the higher-than-expected figure in line with their expectations.
“It fits nicely with our view that the economy is troubled, but not falling apart,” Steen Bocian, senior economist with Danske Bank, said.
With the country in the midst of an election focused heavily on the economy, it had been suggested today’s announcement would be decisive for the outcome of the September 15 vote.
But Boccian cautioned against reading too deeply into the figures. Third quarter growth numbers, he said, would be a more important indicator of the true health of the economy, since it was during this period that the global economic recovery stalled out.

Source: The Copenhagen Post Online, August 2011