Eurozone Industrial Output Rose Sharply in February

By Paul Hannon 

        Industrial production in the eurozone rose sharply in February after experiencing a dip at the start of the year, an indication that the weakening euro is starting to aid exporters and the currency area's modest economic recovery.
        The European Union's statistics agency said Tuesday that production by factories, mines and utilities was 1.1% higher than in January, and 1.6% higher than in the same month a year earlier.
        This was a stronger outcome than economists had expected, with the consensus forecast of 21 surveyed by The Wall Street Journal last week being for a rise of just 0.3% from January. Industrial production last increased as sharply in April of last year.
        That performance indicates the euro's depreciation since May 2014 is finally proving a game changer for exporters, among whom manufacturers predominate. That is consistent with a March survey of manufacturers, which recorded the strongest rise in new export orders since April 2014.
        The euro fell against the dollar early Tuesday, closing in on the 12-year low hit last month, while also chalking up a fresh near two-year low against Japan's yen.
        The eurozone economy picked up in the final three months of last year, growing at a modest rate of 0.3%, compared with 0.2% in the third quarter.
        With the economy growing weakly and consumer prices in decline, the European Central Bank last month launched a new stimulus program under which it will buy more than EUR1 trillion ($1.06 trillion) of mostly government bonds by September 2016. That helped steepen the euro's fall against the dollar.
        Signs of an acceleration in the eurozone economy's so far anemic recovery will be welcome news for ECB policy makers as they meet later Tuesday and early Wednesday. They are not expected to announce any major new policy initiatives Wednesday, although ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to insist that despite early signs of success for QE, there is a long way to go before it is clear that it will achieve its objective of raising the inflation rate to just under 2.0%. Consumer prices fell 0.1% in the 12 months through March.
        The rise in output during February was broad based, but led by a 1.6% rise in the manufacture of nondurable consumer goods. Ireland recorded a 16.3% rise in output over the month, but its figures are notoriously volatile. Germany and Italy both recorded increases of 0.6%, while Italy recorded a rise of 0.7%, and France lagged behind with a rise of just 0.2%.
        Write to Paul Hannon at paul.hannon@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        April 14, 2015 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT)

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