Percentage Points: Percent and Eu

percentage points: For 2017, the EU executive arm forecasts a growth of 1.5 percent in the eurozone and 1.6 percent in the EU, both 0.3 percentage points lower than previous predictions, according to Xinhua China. The European Commission also predicted a growth of 1.7 percent in the eurozone and 1.8 percent in the EU in 2018. The report indicated that real gross domestic product GDP in 2016 was now expected to rise 1.7 percent in the eurozone, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous spring report, while GDP growth in the EU remained the same at 1.8 percent. The report attributed Europe modest growth to recent labor market gains and rising private consumption, saying that expectations were for employment to continue growing and wages to pick up slightly. In the coming years, the European economy will no longer be able to rely on the exceptional support from external factors like falling oil prices and currency depreciation, the report added. However, the report also noted there was a risk that the economy weak performance in recent years could hold back growth, and persistent slack pointed to the possibility of faster growth without undue inflationary pressures. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.