Industrial production in the euro area was unchanged in June, outperforming expectations for a decline as gains in consumer goods and energy offset weaker output of capital and intermediate goods, according to Eurostat.
Production was flat from the previous month following a 0.3% increase in May. Forecasts had pointed to a 0.1% contraction.
Output of durable consumer goods rebounded 0.3% after falling 1.3% in May. Production of non-durable consumer goods increased 3%, following a 3.3% gain a month earlier, while energy output rose 1.5%, slowing from 2.6%.
The performance was weaker in other parts of the industrial sector. Intermediate goods production declined 0.8%, compared with a 0.2% decrease in May, while capital goods output fell 1.4% after increasing 0.5% in the previous month.
Among the euro area’s largest economies, industrial production increased 0.2% in Germany and was unchanged in France. Spain recorded a 0.7% decline.
On an annual basis, euro-area industrial production increased 0.1%, significantly outperforming expectations for a 0.8% contraction.
The June figures point to uneven conditions across the region’s industrial economy, with stronger consumer-related and energy production offset by declines in categories linked more closely to manufacturing inputs and capital investment.
