LONDON (AP) — Industrial production rose 1.1 percent across the eurozone during April, official figures showed Tuesday, lifting growth hopes for the region after a two-month decline in output.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said that the main reason for the increase was a higher production of big-ticket items like kitchen appliances or furniture, capital goods and non-durable consumer goods.
It's good news for an economy that has otherwise shown signs of slowing down after a strong start to the year. The month-on-month jump in industrial production comes after a decline of 0.7 percent in March and 1.2 percent in February.
"Obviously this is a boost to growth hopes," said Howard Archer, Chief European & UK Economist at IHS Economics. "The general belief was that the production would slow down in the second quarter, so this gives hopes to that the growth proves fairly resilient."
While the industrial production in Germany and France grew by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent respectively, Spain faced a decline of 0.1 percent. In Greece, the output jumped 3.6 percent.
