The German economy grew by 0.6% in 2019, the weakest expansion rate since 2013 and a marked cooling from the previous year, a preliminary estimate from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.6% last year after an expansion rate of 1.5% in 2018. “This means that the German economy grew the tenth year in a row. This is the longest growth period since German reunification,” statistics official Albert Braakmann said. The office said the budget surplus of the public sector, including federal states, municipalities and social security systems, fell to 49.8 billion euros ($55.4 billion) or […]