Europe's economy shrank less than economists forecast in 4Q11 as a better-than- predicted performance in Germany and France helped mitigate the region's first contraction since 2009. GDP in the 17-nation euro area fell 0.3% q-o-q, the first drop since the 2Q2009. Economists had forecast a drop of 0.4%, the median of 42 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey shows. In Germany, Europe's largest economy, GDP dropped less than economists projected in the fourth quarter, while France's economy unexpectedly expanded in that period. (Bloomberg)