Industrial output delivers unexpected gain in September
Industrial output continued to expand, albeit timidly, in September. Industrial production inched up a seasonally-adjusted 0.1% over the previous month, following August’s 0.4% increase. The reading surprised market expectations of a 0.2% dip and follows two months of contractions.
Growth in production of non-durable consumer goods strengthened from the previous month, while capital goods production also increased, although at a softer pace than in August. However, production of durable consumer goods and energy output declined faster than in the prior month, while production of intermediate goods swung from slight growth to contraction.
Looking at the individual economies for which data is available, industrial production expanded in eight countries in September, including in France and Ireland; in Ireland, industrial production surged. On the flip side, it contracted markedly in Germany and Spain, and it also dropped in Italy.
On an annual basis, industrial production fell 1.7% in September, a softer contraction than August’s 2.8% dive, which had marked the worst reading since December 2018. Lastly, annual average variation in industrial production slumped to minus 1.5%, the worst reading since October 2013 (August: -1.3%).