German industry rebounds
October 9, 2013German industrial production surged 1.4 percent in August after falling by a revised 1.1 percent in July, latest data released by the German Economics Ministry on Wednesday showed.
The increase beat the expectations of analysts, who had forecast a rise of just 1 percent in a poll by Reuters news agency. The ministry even predicted another month of declining industrial output.
"The upward trend of production in the manufacturing industry continues. The weakness of the winter season is over," the German Economics Ministry said in a statement.
Leading the August gain was a jump by 13.6 percent in car production, followed by 4.4 percent higher output of capital goods such as equipment and machinery.
The industrial data also showed that the construction sector was down 1.9 percent month-on-month in August, and that energy production slipped 0.2 percent.
Compared to the July-August period a year ago, overall industrial production was still 0.8 percent less, proving that a full recovery in the key sector of the German economy has yet to materialize.
uhe/rc (AFP, Reuters, dpa)