The eurozone managed to escape recession, beating growth forecasts for the start of this year, it has been revealed. Gross domestic product (GDP) across the single currency bloc expanded by 0.3% in the January to March period, according to statistics body Eurostat on Tuesday. This means that the eurozone’s shallow technical recession is over after GDP shrank by 0.1% in both the third and fourth quarters of last year. It was also the eurozone’s strongest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2022, lifted by stronger-than-expected growth in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks mixed as traders focus on eurozone GDP and inflation figures Output rose by 0.2% in Germany in the first quarter of the year, compared to the previous three months, while France’s economic growth accelerated by 0.2%, beating expectations. This was a pick-up on the 0.1% growth recorded in October to December. Italian GDP grew by 0.3%, Spanish GDP increased 0.7%, Portugal’s GDP grew 0.7%, and Austria's figures also came in stronger than expected with an expansion of 0.2%. The wider European Union (EU) also grew by 0.3%. Euro area #GDP up by 0.3% in Q1 2024, +0.4% compared with Q1...