Eurozone economy grows by modest 0.2 percent in Q1

LONDON (AP) - Official figures show that the economy of the 16 countries that use the euro grew modestly during the first quarter of the year, despite a further big drop in output in debt-laden Greece.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said Wednesday that the eurozone economy grew by 0.2 percent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter.

Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, saw output rise by 0.2 percent. That more than helped to offset the 0.8 percent contraction in Greece, which is in the process of being bailed out by its partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.