Euro zone economy slows to 0.4% growth in Q3 as crisis-hit France contracts

Economic expansion in the euro zone slowed to 0.4% in the third quarter from 0.6% in the previous three months, statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday. That was nonetheless higher than the 0.2% growth forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. However, France's economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.1% as the country grapples with nationwide unrest and a struggle to tame rising bond yields as investors balk at its high deficit .