The euro has moved upwards against the dollar for the third consecutive day after official figures showed that the German economy grew unexpectedly in the second quarter.A statement from the Federal Statistics Office said today (August 13th) that gross domestic product rose 0.3 per cent in Q2, rebounding from the 3.5 per cent contraction witnessed in the first quarter.The growth came as an unexpected fillip for investors taking the view that the worst of the global recession many now be over and promoted confidence in the eurozone. Adam Carr, Sydney-based senior economist at ICAP Australia, a unit of the world's largest interdealer broker, said that he expects growth in the region to be "very high" later in the year.European Central Bank executive boardmember Juergen Stark was also reported by Boersen-Zeitung as saying that the European economy may return to growth sooner than anticipated.The German GDP announcement also provided support for sterling, which was rising against the dollar this morning.