German industrial production rises touch more than expected

German industrial production rose a little more than expected in November, according to figures released on Monday by Destatis.

Production was up 0.2% on the month following a downwardly-revised 0.4% drop in October, coming in ahead of expectations for a 0.1% gain.

On the year, industrial production fell 0.4% in November following a 0.2% decline the month before.

Production in industry excluding energy and construction grew 0.5% in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms, compared with the previous month.

Within industry, the production of intermediate goods rose 1.1%, while the production of capital goods was 0.7% higher. The production of consumer goods fell 1.5%.

Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics, said: "The rise in German industrial output in November suggests that industrial output has held up better than we anticipated in the fourth quarter in part because of an increase in production in energy-intensive industries.

"The recent slump in gas prices should help energy-intensive firms, but the drag on output from past rate hikes and slowing demand is likely to intensify in the coming months."