Eurozone GDP misses forecast in second quarter (10:10)

Industrial production in the 19-member-state bloc fell 0.4% month-on-month in June, still 1.2% higher year-on-year, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said yesterday, but below analysts’ expectations for a 0.2% fall.

The first reading of second-quarter GDP in the euro zone comes two days after data showed that industrial output shrank by more than expected in June.

Growth was lower than analyst consensus estimates in both areas.

The euro zone’s year-on-year increase of 1.2 percent in industrial production was due to production of non-durable consumer goods rising by 2.5 percent, capital goods by 1.7 percent, intermediate goods by 0.2 percent and durable consumer goods by 0.1 percent, while production of energy remained stable. In Finland, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain industrial production in June was stronger than in May.

A cooling Chinese economy prompted Beijing on Tuesday to devalue its currency, while data on Monday showed that Russia’s economy moved further into recession in the second quarter.

During the second quarter of 2015, GDP in the United States increased by 0.6% compared with the previous quarter (after +0.2% in the first quarter of 2015). A decline of 0.2% in Greece was modest compared with May’s 5.7% slump, a sign that doubts about Greece’s eurozone future was hurting economic activity. By comparison, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal predict quarterly GDP growth of 0.4%, unchanged from the first quarter.

But Eurostat said month-on-month industrial production fell in the EU and the euro zone, down 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.