Euro zone industry did not fall in Oct but recovery not in sight

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone industrial production was unchanged in October from the previous month, outperforming expectations of a slight fall, but data suggested that no recovery was in sight for a sector deep in recession for close to two years now.

The unchanged figure released by Eurostat was just ahead of economist forecasts for a 0.1% decline, and follows a 1.5% drop in September.

Germany, France and the Netherlands all reported negative readings on the month while Italian output stagnated, leaving Spain as the only one of the biggest euro zone countries with a positive reading.

Industry has suffered for years on sharply rising energy costs, waning demand from China, higher financing costs for investment and cautious consumer spending at home.

This weakness was one of the key reasons the European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday and lowered its growth outlook, arguing there was uncertainty in abundance.

Compared to a year earlier, the euro zone’s industrial output was 1.2% lower, beating expectations for a 1.9% fall.

Compared with the previous month, energy, durable goods and consumer goods production all fell and only capital goods production rose.