March 4, 2006	Saturday	Safar 3, 1427

BRUSSELS, March 3: Eurozone economic activity slowed in the final quarter of last year but the 12 nations using the euro will enjoy a pick up in the quarter ahead, official EU data showed on Friday.

Eurozone growth eased in the fourth quarter to 0.3 per cent from 0.7 per cent in the third quarter as household spending shrank, the EU’s Eurostat data agency said.

The figures confirmed an earlier forecast for the fourth quarter and revised an estimate for the third quarter from 0.6 per cent previously.

But separately, the European Commission (EC) predicted that the slower quarterly growth was only a blip and that recovery was on track, forecasting growth in a range of 0.4-0.9 per cent in the first, second and third quarters.

In the fourth quarter of 2005, the euro area economy expanded by 1.7pc from the equivalent figure in the last quarter of 2004, after 12-month growth of 1.6 per cent in the third quarter.

Eurostat also confirmed an estimate from last month that in the whole of 2005, the eurozone economy slowed to 1.3 per cent from 2.1 per cent in 2004.—AFP