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Eurozone industrial production bounces higher in April

12 June 2014, 12:33 CET
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(BRUSSELS) - Industrial production in the eurozone rebounded by 0.8 percent in April, official Eurostat data showed, after a 0.4 percent drop in March, with a notable pick up for energy and non-durable consumer goods.

Particularly encouraging was a rise in industrial production in Italy and Spain where drops a month earlier had raised alarms that a fragile recovery might be faltering.

"April's rise in eurozone industrial production suggests that industry is strengthening after a weak start to the year," said James Howat of Capital Economics.

Industrial production in France remained flat however, up only 0.1 percent month-to-month, and "probably remains the eurozone's biggest problem," said Carsten Brzeski of ING bank.

On a yearly basis, French production fell 1.8 percent, far off the 1.4 percent growth eurozone-wide and 1.7 percent in powerhouse Germany.

Howat said recent surveys of industrial activity "suggest that euro-zone production might pick up a little further" in the second quarter as a whole.

"But even this pace remains too weak to substantially erode the huge slack in the euro-zone economy," he said.

Production of non-durable goods, items with a lifespan of less than three months, rose 2.1 percent in the currency bloc. Energy production rose 2.5 percent.

Industrial production up by 0.8% in euro area [Eurostat]


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