by Daniel Costello

Happy Friday Planet Money readers. Here are some of the highlights from this morning's business and economic news:

The 16-country Eurozone has officially joined the United States and Japan out of recession, after figures Friday showed its economy grew by 0.4 percent in the third quarter.

The performance was not as strong as many economists had predicted; many thought the region would grow 0.6 percent. Germany's economy grew by 0.7 percent and France's by 0.3 percent. Spain's economy continued to suffer, shrinking 0.3 percent as it reels from the collapse of its property market.

As the U.S. economy rebounds, consumers are buying more but disproportionately from abroad. That led to the biggest jump in the trade deficit in a decade.

The gap grew a larger-than-anticipated 18 percent to $36.5 billion in September, the highest level since January, from a revised $30.8 billion in August, the Commerce Department. Imports surged by the most in 16 years, swamping a gain in exports.

 

And videogame retailers got a dose of good holiday news yesterday, when a bloody and controversial video game made more money in one day than any movie ever has.

On Thursday, Activision said its brand-new "Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare," which hit store shelves on Tuesday, had far surpassed the previous record for opening-day sales by an entertainment property, earning $310 million in North America and the U.K. alone. That equates to 4.7 million copies of the new game sold in those regions.