Euro Area: Industrial production rebounds in January
Industrial output increased 0.7% over the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms in January, contrasting December’s 1.3% decrease. January’s result reflected a turnaround in the production of intermediate good as well as softer contractions in durable and non-durable consumer goods. On the flip side, the production of energy swung from expansion to contraction. Meanwhile, the production of capital goods fell at a steady pace.
Looking at the individual economies for which data is available, industrial output rose in six countries, while it contracted in 12 and remained stable in one. Focusing on the most important economies, production increased in Germany, while it decreased in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
On an annual basis, industrial production expanded 0.9% in January, contrasting December’s 2.0% decrease. Lastly, annual average growth in industrial production was unchanged at December’s 2.2% in January.
Commenting on the outlook, Bert Colijn, senior economist at ING, stated:
“The current environment for industry is an odd one. Backlogs of orders are being fulfilled now that supply chain problems have eased, and energy-intensive production is doing better due to recent lower market prices for energy. At the same time, the eerie reality is that new orders continue to suffer at the moment, which makes the production uptick likely to be short-lived or at least limited. A continuation of the current trend of broad stagnation is therefore a decent bet for the months ahead.”