Spain's economy continues to grow
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Economists, however, expect Spain's expansion to slow in 2017. Spain's economy expanded by a better-than-expected 0.8% in the second quarter and grew 3.2% versus a year earlier, the country's statistics agency said.
Spain's second-quarter economic expansion is higher than the 0.7% estimate the statistics agency had published at the end of July. The second-quarter figure of 0.8% is in line with growth in the first quarter.
Doubts about which political party or parties will eventually govern Spain have dragged on for three-quarters of a year after voters elected a divided parliament in December and again in June. Since then, lawmakers have been unable to cobble together a coalition.
But Spanish consumers have largely carried on despite the uncertainty, buoyed by job and slight wage growth as the country recovers from a crippling crisis that ended in 2013. ■