Europe’s economy brushes off energy shock from Iran war, shows moderate growth in Q3

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe s economy persevered with moderate growth in the third quarter despite higher oil prices from the U.S.-Iran war, as gross domestic product increased by 0.4% over the quarter before. The figure released Friday for the 21 European Union member countries that use the euro currency was better than the 0.2% expected by market analysts. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, the economy of the 21 countries using the euro grew by 1.3% in the July-September period, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. The continued growth shows that “households and businesses have not pared back their spending due to the Iran war,” said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics. “All in all, the eurozone economy remains resilient amid geopolitical turmoil and a worsening inflationary environment,” wrote Paolo Grignani, senior economist at Oxford Economics. That is despite “worrying signs” that higher oil prices are spreading to other s