Czech Republic: Industrial production rebounds robustly in April
Industrial production rose a solid 5.5% year-on-year in April, rebounding from the revised 1.5% drop recorded in March (previously reported: -1.1% year-on-year). Notably, there were two additional working days in April than in the same month last year, which helped boost the headline figure. Manufacturing output swung from a 3.0% annual decline in March to a stellar 9.0% expansion in April, primarily on the back of higher production of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers; and fabricated metal products. Conversely, year-on-year output in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sector fell sharply in April, which dragged on the overall growth reading. Meanwhile, output in the mining and quarrying sector remained broadly unchanged in April.
In seasonally-adjusted month-on-month terms, industrial output dropped 0.9% in April, contrasting the prior month’s revised 0.6% increase (previously reported: +1.4% month-on-month). Annual average growth in industrial production climbed from 4.9% in March to 5.4% in April.