Eurozone industrial production retreats after recent gains

(Sharecast News) - Industrial production across the eurozone unexpectedly declined in May, according to figures from Eurostat on Wednesday, with output falling for the first time in four months. Compared with April, seasonally adjusted industrial production fell 0.2% in May, after growing by 0.3% over the preceding three months.

This was the first monthly decline since the 1.1% slump registered in January, and well below the 0.2% increase expected by analysts.

Industrial production increased for energy by 2.2%, for capital goods by 0.3% and for non-durable consumer goods by 0.8%, but this was outweighed by a 0.3% fall in production for intermediate goods and a 1.1% drop in production for durable consumer goods.

Among member states, the biggest monthly decreases were seen in Ireland (-5.2%), Malta (-3.7%) and Lithuania (-3.0%), while the largest increases were registered in Luxembourg (+2.7%), Portugal (+2.0%) and Greece (+1.9%).