Euro zone fourth quarter GDP falls less than earlier estimated

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone gross domestic product fell less than initially estimated in the last quarter of 2020 and employment edged higher against the previous three months despite pandemic lockdowns, new estimates showed on Tuesday.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said GDP in the 19 countries sharing the euro contracted 0.6% quarter-on-quarter in the October-December period, for a 5.0% year-on-year fall. Eurostat earlier estimated the contraction was 0.7% on the quarter and 5.1% in annual terms.

Eurostat also said that employment grew 0.3% on the quarter in the last three months of 2020 after a 1.0% quarterly rise in the previous three months, but was still 2.0% lower than in the same period a year earlier.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)

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