The euro zone jumped out of recession in the third quarter, but the region’s top three economies fell short of market forecasts.

Gross domestic product in the 16 countries using the euro rose 0.4 percent from the previous quarter. That follows five consecutive quarters of shrinking output, but growth was four percent lower than the same period last year. German gross domestic product was up 0.7 percent, France’s by a weak 0.3 percent and Italy’s by 0.6 percent. Economists had expected all three to do better, particularly France. Germany, France and Italy account for over two-thirds of aggregate euro zone output. Other countries continue to struggle. Spain this week reported a third-quarter GDP drop of 0.3 percent, though that was not as bad as the second quarter’s 1.1 percent fall.More about: Eurozone

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