Eurozone industrial production bounces higher in April
Rise in industrial production in Italy and Spain has been seen encouraging.
BRUSSELS (AFP) - Industrial production in the eurozone rebounded by 0.8 percent in April, official Eurostat data showed, after a 0.4 percent drop in March, with a notable pick up for energy and non-durable consumer goods.
Particularly encouraging was a rise in industrial production in Italy and Spain where drops a month earlier had raised alarms that a fragile recovery might be faltering.
"April s rise in eurozone industrial production suggests that industry is strengthening after a weak start to the year," said James Howat of Capital Economics.
Industrial production in France remained flat however, up only 0.1 percent month-to-month, and "probably remains the eurozone s biggest problem," said Carsten Brzeski of ING bank.
On a yearly basis, French production fell 1.8 percent, far off the 1.4 percent growth eurozone-wide and 1.7 percent in powerhouse Germany.
Howat said recent surveys of industrial activity "suggest that euro-zone production might pick up a little further" in the second quarter as a whole.
"But even this pace remains too weak to substantially erode the huge slack in the euro-zone economy," he said.
Production of non-durable goods, items with a lifespan of less than three months, rose 2.1 percent in the currency bloc. Energy production rose 2.5 percent.
