German economy shifts into higher gear

The German economy, Europe's biggest, has slipped into higher gear powered by low unemployment, higher wages and the weak euro, the German central bank, or Bundesbank, said on Friday. After notching up growth of 1.6 percent last year, Germany would see gross domestic product (GDP) expand by 1.7 percent in 2015, 1.8 percent in 2016 and 1.5 percent in 2017, the Bundesbank said in its latest monthly report. With those growth rates, "the German economy would expand at a faster pace than po