German industrial production rose in April after declining in the previous two months, led by an increase in construction in Europe's largest economy.
Production at factories, utilities, construction sites and mines increased 1.1 percent from March, when it fell 0.3 percent, the Economy and Labor Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists expected output to rise 0.5 percent, the median of 45 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed.
No victory flags yet, though:
"We see a slowdown in the rest of the year, but foreign business will remain the driver of growth,'' said Ralph Wiechers, chief economist at the VDMA machinery industry group in Frankfurt, which represents 3,000 companies including Robert Bosch GmbH. "On the domestic side, we'll be happy if we can just overcome stagnation.''...
Bundesbank President Axel Weber said on May 12 that German growth for the rest of the year won't be "as dynamic'' as in the first quarter, when the economy expanded 1 percent from the previous three months. The International Monetary Fund in April forecast global growth will slow to 4.3 percent this year from 5.1 percent in 2004.
Oh well. See also this (positive) post on retail sales, from A Few Euros More. But afem also has some less good news on German factory orders.