Eurozone posts surprise trade surplus

The eurozone posted an unexpected trade surplus in March, for the first time since the economic crisis broke out last year.

Eurostat figures published Monday (18 May) showed that the 16 EU countries sharing the euro registered a trade surplus of €400 million, up from a deficit of €1 billion in February.

The news is positive for eurozone nations, whose economies contracted by 2.5 percent in the first three months of 2009. Economists had forecast a trade deficit of €300 million in M...