BRUSSELS – Euro zone industrial production in June grew three times more than expected, data showed on Friday, mainly thanks to a jump in the output of capital goods.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said industrial production in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.7% month-on-month in June for a 2.4% year-on-year increase.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2% monthly and 0.8% year-on-year gain.
Eurostat said that the production of capital goods, which include things like machinery, equipment, vehicles or tools, rose 2.6% on the month and 7.6% in annual terms.
This helped offset a 0.1% month and a 0.5% year-on-year fall in the output of intermediate goods and a 3.2% monthly and 1.1% annual drop in the output of non-durable consumer goods.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)
