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Industrial production in the 19 countries
sharing the euro fell 0.1 percent from December, the EU's
statistics office Eurostat said, compared to the 0.2 percent
rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
Still, on an annual basis, industrial production posted its best
reading since July 2014, increasing 1.2 percent and outstripping
economists' expectations of a 0.1 percent rise.
That strong performance was helped by increases in France,
Germany, Spain and Ireland as production of goods including
televisions and computers rose 2.5 percent. Italy, which along
with France and Germany makes up two-thirds of industrial
output, fell 2.2 percent however.
Overall, the data appears to back an emerging trend of improving
morale among households who have suffered through the global
financial crisis and the bloc's ensuing debt crisis.
The euro zone crisis drove a vicious cycle of falling business
consumer morale, repossessed homes and lengthening job queues
that has sucked away demand for factory-made goods.
Now, a host of euro zone data, from retail sales to falling
unemployment numbers, suggest that a weaker euro, cheaper oil,
low interest rates and the European Central Bank's
money-printing program are helping the bloc avoid the stagnation
many feared.
Industrial production was also revised up in December from
November into positive territory, Eurostat said, meaning that on
average, output has been growing since a decline in August.
Production of machinery used to make other goods, an indicator
of future business, rose slightly in January from December. On
an annual basis, capital goods production rose 1.4 percent in
the first month of this year.
If production of those capital goods continues to increase, that
should support business surveys and the view of the European
Commission and the ECB that the euro zone will post modest
growth in 2015 and an acceleration in 2016.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
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