Industrial production in the euro area is shrinking. Industrial production in the euro area is falling for the first time since May. Italy, Ireland and Spain were hit hardest in September, while Germany continued to grow.
Industrial production in the euro area is shrinking
The industrial recovery is over for now: the companies in the euro zone surprisingly produced 0.4 percent less in September than in the previous month, the Eurostat statistics office announced on Thursday in Luxembourg. This is the first drop since April, after four straight rises, when companies suffered from the fallout from the spring lockdown. Economists, however, had expected an increase of 0.7 percent for September. Since May the recovery has gradually lost momentum.
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A look at the previous year’s comparison shows that the industry’s catch-up race is far from over since the Corona dip in spring: Here production was 6.8 percent – and thus more than expected – below the level of September 2019.
The largest month-on-month declines in industrial production were in Italy (-5.6 percent), Ireland (-4.7 percent) and Portugal (-3.8 percent). The strongest growth was in Slovakia (+3.4 percent). In Germany, production increased by 1.7 percent.
Most recently, the economic data for industry has been more favorable than for service providers, who are suffering even more from the severe restrictions due to the fight against the coronavirus. However, the number of infections, which has been rising since October, is creating additional risks and uncertainty for companies.
Source: https://www.spiegel.de/
