Eurozone industrial production grows less than expected in January
Eurozone industrial production grew less than expected in January, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.
Industrial production was up 0.9% from December, versus expectations of 2% growth.
The production of capital goods rose by 2.8% and energy by 1.9%, while production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 0.7%. Both intermediate goods and durable consumer goods declined 0.4%.
Compared with January 2016, industrial production increased 0.6% in the eurozone, falling short of expectations for 0.9% growth.
The production of energy rose by 6.9%, durable consumer goods by 1.5% and intermediate goods by 0.8%, while production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 2.6% and capital goods by 0.8%.
In the EU-28 group of nations, industrial production was up 0.5% on the month and 1.3% on the year.
Capital Economics said: January’s rise in eurozone industrial production did not quite reverse December’s 1.2% decline and suggests that the economy made a slower start to 2017 than the surveys have implied."