German industrial production falls a little less than expected
German industrial production fell a little less than expected in July, according to figures released by Destatis on Wednesday.
Production declined 0.3% on the month following a revised 0.8% increase in June and versus expectations of a 0.5% fall.
On the year, industrial output was down 1.1% in July following a 0.1% dip the month before.
Production in industry excluding energy and construction was down 1.0% in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms, compared with June. Declines in production were seen in all main groupings.
The production of consumer goods fell by 2.4%, capital goods by 0.8% and intermediate goods by 0.6%. The drop in the consumer goods sector was due mainly to the development of non-durable goods production, which declined 3.0%. This sector includes food industry.
Outside industry, energy production rose 2.8% on the month and production in construction was up 1.4%.
Capital Economics said: "German industrial output fell a bit less than anticipated in July but that was mainly due to a rebound in construction activity and there were signs that manufacturing production is starting to be hit hard by the energy crisis.
"We continue to expect that a contraction in industrial output in the remainder of the year will contribute to plunging the German economy into recession."