Photo by Alexey Komissarov
Germany's industrial output unexpectedly rose in March, aided by a higher production of consumer goods and a spike in construction. Despite the news, the German treasury has warned that the outlook remains subdued due to trade issues with the US, as well as continued jitters over the uncertainty of Brexit.
Europe's biggest economy measured a 0.5% increase on the month. This is 1% away from the prediction by some analysts that there would be a fall of 0.5%. Despite this, the figure is still 0.9% down from March 2018.
The country's industrial production, not including construction and energy, increased by 0.4% according to figures produced by the German government. This amounted to a 1.1% increase in overall consumer goods produced. Construction was also up by 1%.
The stunted growth combined with the cacophony of geopolitical uncertainty has kept economic optimism relatively muted.
“The business climate in the manufacturing sector became dimmer. Therefore a subdued industrial situation in the coming months is still to be expected,” said the economy ministry in a statement.
New data released earlier this week showed that German industrial orders rose by less than expected, following the steep decline of the previous two months.
Berlin has now reduced its economic forecast for growth in 2019 to 0.5%, a figure drastically less than the 2.2% and 1.4% of 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank said: “In the end, the German economy is still at the mercy of global economic developments. The reliance on foreign demand is a burden in a climate of trade conflicts and isolationist tendencies.”
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