German growth surges on higher consumer spending

The German economy, Europe's biggest, expanded surprisingly strongly in the fourth quarter of 2014, driven primarily by robust consumer spending, official data showed on Friday. In the period from October to December, gross domestic product expanded by 0.7 percent, bringing full-year growth to 1.6 percent, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement. "The German economy regained momentum at the end of last year," Destatis said. The main growth driver was consumer sp