Eurozone Industrial Production Shrinks For Second Month
(RTTNews) - Eurozone industrial production declined for the second straight month in July, reflecting a weak start to the third quarter, official data revealed Wednesday.
Industrial output edged down 0.1 percent in July, after falling at the same pace in June, Eurostat reported. Production was expected to decline 0.2 percent.
The monthly fall was driven by the 1.6 percent decrease in non-durable consumer goods production, while all other sectors of industrial production expanded moderately.
Output of durable consumer goods and energy rose 0.9 percent each. Intermediate goods output and capital goods output gained 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
On a yearly basis, industrial production remained flat compared to a 0.3 percent drop in June. Economists had forecast output to fall again by 0.3 percent.
Industrial output in the EU was down 0.3 percent from June but increased 0.3 percent from the last year.
Among member states of the EU, the largest monthly decreases were seen in Denmark, Bulgaria and Lithuania. On the other hand, Luxembourg, Croatia and Ireland registered the strongest increases. Despite the Middle East crisis and higher energy prices, euro area industrial production remained resilient at the start of the year due to its comparative advantage over Asia and extra defence spending efforts, ING economist Bert Colijn noted. However, latest data underline a picture of lost momentum, he noted.
While manufacturing is unlikely to contribute much to GDP growth over the third quarter, there is hope for stronger performance towards the end of the year.
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