'Suffering' German economy narrowly escapes recession in third quarter

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German economy narrowly avoided an expected slip into recession in the third quarter as consumers, state spending and construction drove a 0.1% quarterly expansion in Europe's largest economy.On an annual basis, German gross domestic product expanded 0.5% from July through September after a 0.3% expansion in the previous three months, seasonally adjusted figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Thursday."The German economy got away with a black eye: the..