Euro zone industrial production rose in May, official estimates showed on Tuesday, but the recovery from lockdown-induced record declines March and April was lower than expected and far from offsetting past drops.
Manufacturing output in the region rose by 12.4per cent in May from April, mostly driven by a surge in production of durable consumer goods, such as cars or fridges, the European Union statistics office Eurostat said.But the increase was significantly lower than the 15per cent rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The limited rebound in May, when many plants reopened, suggest the recovery is limited. The fall in April was also bigger than initially estimated by Eurostat, which on Tuesday revised its month-on-month data to -18.2per cent from -17.1per cent. Factories also increased by 25.4per cent their output of capital goods, such as machinery, in a sign of confidence in long-term economic growth. The increase was, however, lower than the 26.1per cent fall in April.