Euro zone industrial output accelerated month-on-month in August and July production was revised upwards, data showed, providing evidence the area's economy is likely to have started growing in the third quarter. Industrial output in the 16-country zone rose 0.9 percent on the month, leaving production 15.4 percent below the year-earlier level, the European Union's statistical body said on Wednesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had on average expected a 1.0 percent monthly rise and a 15.5 percent annual decline. Eurostat revised upwards its July production data to a 0.2 percent monthly increase from the previously reported 0.3 percent fall, making August the fourth straight month of month-on-month gains.
It kept the year-on-year rate unchanged at minus 15.9 percent. Production of durable consumer goods rose the most in August, up 5.3 percent on the month, pointing to a pick-up in consumer demand. The output of capital goods, used in investment, produced the second-highest gain at 1.1 percent, while intermediate goods and energy rose 0.5 percent each.
Production of non-durable consumer goods, such as food, fell 1.3 percent against July. Industrial production accounts for roughly 17 percent of gross domestic product in the eurozone. Many economists expect the area's economy to have grown by 0.3 percent in the July-September period against the previous three months.
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