Euro zone industrial output fell in November by more than expected, official data showed on Monday, confirming the series of weak national data which have raised concerns about the bloc’s growth in the final quarter of the year.
The European Union’s statistics office, the Eurostat, estimated industrial production in the 19-country currency bloc plunged by 1.7 per cent in November on the month after a modest, downwardly revised 0.1 per cent increase in October and a 0.6 per cent drop in September.
November was the worst monthly reading since February 2016, when output fell by 2.1 per cent, reports Reuters.
On the year, production fell in November by 3.3 per cent.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a drop but smaller than official estimates show. Markets expectations were for a 1.5 per cent monthly drop and a 2.3 per cent fall year-on-year.
Although worse than expected, the weak data do not come as a surprise as they follow negative readings in the bloc’s main economies released in past days.
Germany, the largest economy in the euro zone, saw its industrial output fall by 1.9 per cent in November on the month against earlier forecasts of a 0.3 per cent rise, data released last week showed.
Production also fell markedly and by more than predicted in France and Italy, the second and third economies of the bloc, national statistics offices had warned last week.
Many economists have since predicted slow growth in the last three months of this year, after the bloc’s economy grew by only 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, from a 0.4 per cent GDP rise in the second quarter.
At euro zone level, the fall was mostly caused by a large monthly 2.3 per cent drop in the production of capital goods, like machineries, which points to a reduced investment appetite.
Output of durable consumer goods, like fridges, fell by 1.7 per cent, while production of non-durable consumer goods, such as clothes, dropped by 1.0 per cent, recording its third consecutive fall.
Energy production also fell by 0.6 per cent on the month.
