Euro zone industrial production fell in July but at a slower pace than expected due to a recovery in production of non-durable consumer goods, Eurostat data showed on Friday.
Industrial production was flat in June but fell 0.3% from the previous month in July. Output is forecast to fall 0.6%.
Among major industry groups, production of durable consumer goods and intermediate goods fell 2.8% and 1.3%, respectively. Production of capital goods also fell 1.6% in July.
Meanwhile, production of non-durable consumer goods increased by 1.8%, after contracting 2.3% in the previous year. At the same time, growth in energy production slowed to 0.3% from 1.7%.
Industrial production fell 2.2% in July from a year earlier. Economists had expected a 2.7% decline, following a 4.1% drop in June.
Bert Collin, an economist at ING, said the economy is unlikely to improve in the coming months, noting that it remains dependent on growth in the services sector to sustain a recovery in GDP growth.
Weak manufacturing performance could cap euro zone GDP growth at 0.3 percent for the time being, the economists added.
The data showed industrial production in the EU27 fell 0.1% from the previous month and 1.7% from a year earlier.
The largest monthly declines were in Malta, Estonia and Romania, while the largest increases were in Ireland, Croatia and Belgium.
The RTTNews Economic Calendar is updated in real time to help you stay on top of the latest information. Get your copy of the Economic Calendar now and make data-driven decisions.
