Eurozone hope hit by industrial production fall
THE EUROZONE economy suffered a setback at the end of last year, with figures from Brussels showing industrial production down 0.7 per cent in December.
Production was still 0.5 per cent higher than the same month a year earlier, but the monthly drop has knocked hopes that the euro area is bouncing back from recession.
The Eurostat office said that average industrial production for last year was 0.8 per cent lower than in 2012. Nonetheless, the single currency area is believed to have expanded, albeit modestly, in the final quarter.
“For the whole of the quarter, there was still 0.3 per cent growth in industrial production, which would be compatible with a 0.2 per cent quarterly GDP expansion,” said ING’s Peter Vanden Houte.
But Vanden Houte noted a split between recent survey data, which has been positive for the Eurozone, and data estimating actual economic progress, which has been bearish.
“While both the purchasing managers’ index and the European Commission’s sentiment indicator have made steady progress over the last few months, hard economic data have been mixed at best,” he said.