Euro area construction output shrinks in April

Construction output in the single currency bloc shrank in April, despite rebounds in France and Germany.

According to Eurostat, in seasonally adjusted terms, output fell by 0.4% over the month.

That was despite increases of 2.0% and 0.8% in Germany and France, which nevertheless only partially reversed the prior month's declines.

Offsetting the above, output in the Netherlands dropped by 5.3%, in Portugal by 1.8% and in Spain by 0.2%.

By sub-sectors, building output fell by 0.6% and that of civil engineering was up by 0.4%.

In comparison to the year earlier month, construction output was ahead by 0.2%.

Net revisions to the data were worth seven tenths of a percentage point.

"Revisions to the March data means that overall construction fared better than previously thought in Q1; it rose by 2.5% on the quarter," said Melanie Debono, senior Europe economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"Unfortunately, the carry over for Q2—the change over the quarter if output is unchanged at its April level in May and June—suggests output will fall this quarter, by 0.8%. We think the fall will be slightly bigger, at just over 1%, as leading indicators have continued to soften."