ZCZC
BCN-24
GERMANY-ECONOMY-INDUSTRY-TRADE-INDICATOR
German industrial production stumbles in July
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Sept 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Industrial production in
Germany slipped in July, official data showed Friday, following up a weak new
orders figure the day before.
Output fell 1.1 percent month-on-month, federal statistics authority
Destatis said in figures adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar effects.
That disappointed forecasts from analysts surveyed by Factset, who had
reckoned with a 0.2 percent increase.
Production was lower across manufacturing firms, with capital goods makers
shedding 2.5 percent, producer goods makers 1.4 percent and consumer goods
0.9 percent.
Construction output was the only sector to report an increase, while
energy firms generated the same amount as last month.
Economic growth in Germany has slowed from the high pace seen in late
2017, as trade war fears have weighed on confidence in the export-reliant
country.
Think-tank DIW predicted Thursday annual growth of 1.8 percent, saying
“the German economy is pressing slightly on the brake pedal” following last
year’s 2.2-percent expansion.
In a separate release, Destatis said Germany’s trade balance — total
exports minus total imports — stood at 16.5 billion euros ($19.2 billion),
down from 18.8 billion one year ago.
In July the country spent some 94.5 billion euros on imports, but sold 111
billion euros abroad.
At 12.0 percent year-on-year, growth in imports outstripped the 7.6
percent expansion in exports.
Germany’s massive trade surplus is a bugbear for many of its allies and
partners in Europe and further afield, especially US President Donald Trump.
Friendly governments and international economic organisations like the
International Monetary Fund regularly urge Berlin to boost spending at home
to smooth out the imbalance, which they argue harms other countries’
economies.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1235