The Bank of Spain says strong domestic demand helped the economy grow 0.8% in the third quarter, its ninth consecutive quarterly growth figure, ABC News reported. The figure was down slightly on the 1% expansion of the previous three-month period, Spain’s best rate since before the economic crisis began in 2007. The bank said Wednesday the year-on-year rate for the third quarter was 3.4%. The government expects the economy to grow 3.3% this year. Spain was battered by the global financial crisis and only emerged from a double-dip recession late 2013. It still has a 22.4% unemployment rate, the second highest in the European Union after Greece.
