Euro zone production stronger than expected in April

Euro zone industrial production was stronger than expected in April, driven by a more than doubling of durable consumer goods output from a year earlier as economies steadily reopened after Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, data showed on Monday.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said industrial output in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.8 per cent month-on-month for a 39.3 per cent year-on-year surge.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.4 per cent monthly and a 37.4 per cent annual jump.

The biggest production gain in April against March was in durable consumer goods, where output rose 3.4 per cent after 1.2 per cent monthly declines in both February and March.

In year-on-year terms, the gain in durable consumer goods output was a spectacular 117.3 per cent after a 34.5 per cent annual rise in March, with capital goods also surging 65.4 per cent year-on-year and intermediate goods up 38.7 per cent.