European Economy Improves, Slowly

Too early to celebrate

A trio of positive economic indicators released Thursday point to a very slowly reviving Europe, with encouraging news from the UK, Spain and Germany.

The UK's gross domestic product growth in the second quarter reached 0.6 percent, doubling the 0.3 percent growth for the first quarter, said the nation's Office for National Statistics.

All four chief sectors of the UK economy, as defined by the office to include agriculture, production, construction and services, showed increases over the first quarter. The service sector contributed the most, with a 0.6 percent boost.