BERLIN (Reuters) – German industrial production fell slightly more than expected in July, the German Federal Statistics Office said on Thursday, highlighting the challenges facing the sector after a winter slowdown in Europe’s largest economy.
Production fell by 0.8% in July compared to the previous month. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a decline of 0.5%.
“Dark clouds still hang over the industry,” said Alexander Krueger, chief economist at Hauck Aushaeuser Lampe.
He added, “The weakness of the global economy and high energy prices will keep the outlook bleak. On the production side, it already looks like another quarterly loss.”
Comparing the three less volatile months, production between May and July was 1.9% lower than in the previous three months, the data showed.
Germany’s manufacturing sector has had a difficult year so far due to dwindling orders, slowing production and rising prices, with the final manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (HCOB) falling for the sixth straight month in July.
The data showed that industrial production (manufacturing excluding energy and construction) fell by 1.8% in July compared to June, while capital goods production fell by 2.9% and consumer goods production fell by 1.0%.
LBBW’s Jens Oliver Niklasch said Thursday’s data highlighted the “ongoing collapse of the economy” and he expected the third quarter to lead to a decline in economic output.
The office offers more Detailed data On its website.
Writing by Friedrich Heine. Editing by Maria Sheehan and Christina Fincher
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