German Industrial Production Surged in May as Coronavirus Measures Eased
July 07 2020 - 2:41AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
German industrial production increased sharply in May as
restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic
eased, data from the federal statistics office Destatis showed
Tuesday.
Total industrial output--comprised of output in manufacturing,
energy and construction--rose 7.8% in May from April in
calendar-adjusted terms. Economists had forecast a 10% increase,
according to a poll by The Wall Street Journal.
Compared with May 2019, total industrial output fell 19.3% in
calendar-adjusted terms.
In April, German industrial output collapsed by an upwardly
revised 17.5%, the largest decline since the beginning of the
series in January 1991. Year-on-year, production fell 25% in April,
compared with the preliminary figure of 25.3%.
Production in industry excluding energy and construction was up
10.3% in May. In industry, the production of intermediate goods
showed a decrease by 0.1%. The production of consumer goods
increased by 1.4% and the production of capital goods by 27.6%,
data showed.
Production in the automotive sector increased markedly in May,
after recording a sharp drop in April. However, it was still by
just under 50% lower than in February, Destatis said.
Energy production increased 1.7% and construction was up
0.5%.
Industrial production data follows the largest monthly increase
on record in manufacturing orders, published on Monday, which
showed a 10.4% increase in orders on an adjusted basis. Despite the
strong rebound, the growth rate was below economists'
consensus.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 07, 2020 02:26 ET (06:26 GMT)
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