Germany's economic growth slowed slightly to 0.6% in the second quarter from 0.7% in the three months prior, preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed. The final estimate will be released on August 25.

The previous reading was revised upwards by 0.1 percentage points from 0.6%. Analysts had expected the economic growth to be unchanged.

Foreign trade had a negative impact on the recovery of the country’s economy. Compared to the previous quarter, imports grew at a faster rate than exports.

Annual GDP growth came in at 2.1% after posting 2% in the previous quarter, exceeding economists’ expectations for the growth of 1.9%.   

Manufacturing employment increased by around 88,000 or 1.6% year-on-year in June, indicating consistent growth of the economy. The number of hours worked decreased by 6.3% to 685 million. At the same time, earnings rose by 2.9% to 24.8 billion euros.