Eurozone industrial production rises in August by 1.6%

Eurozone industrial production rose in August. It is a factor that lowered concerns over the British pound and its impact on export from EU to the UK which is the second significant external market.

According to a report released by Eurostat, industrial production rose by 1.6% on a month-over-month basis and by 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. The data became higher than expected. Experts forecasted growth by 1.5% MoM and by 0.9% YoY. Moreover, the company revised up the data for July: industrial production fell by 0.7%, down by 0.4% from the previous meaning.

The highest growth of industrial production was noticed in Germany, which is the most significant exporter in the UK. Positive signs were marked in France, Italy, Spain and Netherlands. Ireland reported the strongest fall of activity, but significant monthly fluctuations are special peculiarity of this country. 

Economic growth slowed down in Q2, despite growth of industrial production. Polls and other economic data showed that growth of economy in Q3 remains moderate.

However, there are factors which show that recovery started in 2013 becomes more stable. For example, the latest data on housing market show that prices rose in Q2 by 1.4% on a quarter-over-quarter basis and by 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Some sceptics of monetary policy from the ECB point at growth of overheating. However, the official data show that there are no signs of overheating. German housing prices rose by 5.3%; France's housing prices rose by 1%, Austria's prices rose by 9% after growth by 13.4% in Q1.