Eurozone industrial production unexpectedly drops in December

Industrial output in the Eurozone unexpectedly fell in December, with energy the biggest drag, data from Eurostat showed on Friday.

Output was down 1% compared with a 0.5% drop in November and much weaker than the 0.3% increase forecast by economists.

Energy fell 2.4%, while capital goods were 1.9% lower. Both intermediate goods and non-durable consumer goods declined 0.3%, while production of durable consumer goods rose by 1.4%.

Compared with December 2014, industrial production fell 1.3%, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.9% increase.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said the report was downbeat, mainly due to falling energy output.