Industrial production in the eurozone rose for the third consecutive month in November, data showed Wednesday, offering a glimmer of hope amid an otherwise downbeat end to the year, dpa reported.
Output rose by 0.2 per cent month-on-month, according to data released by the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat.
Analysts had expected industrial production to remain unchanged month-on-month in the 18-member currency bloc, which grew to 19 countries on January 1, when Lithuania adopted the euro.
Revised figures showed that output in October had also risen by 0.3 per cent – 0.2 percentage points higher than initially calculated. “Today’s figures are a pleasant surprise, signalling that the economic recovery in the eurozone remains on track,” wrote ING Bank analyst Peter Vanden Houte.
However he warned that the currency area is still experiencing “very subdued growth and negative inflation,” making it likely that the European Central Bank will take steps to boost economic recovery at its monthly rate-setting meeting next week.
The eurozone emerged from recession in 2013, but its economy has since languished, with unemployment stubbornly high. The November increase in output was led by a rise in the production of durable consumer goods, Eurostat wrote. Production in the energy sector – which has experienced a sharp decline in prices – fell by 0.9 per cent.
Ireland experienced the largest monthly increase, at 4.6 per cent, adding to hopes that the former bailout recipient is on the path to economic recovery. Year on year, industrial production in the eurozone fell by 0.4 per cent. November output also rose by 0.2 per cent in the 28-member European Union, Eurostat said. Year-on-year output fell by 0.1 per cent.
Source : Qatar News Agency
