“German industrial production (GRIPIMOM) surged the most in more than a year in April as construction activity surged after an unusually long winter damped output.
Production jumped 1.8 percent percent from March, when it gained 1.2 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. That’s the third consecutive increase and the strongest gain since March last year. Economists forecast no change, according to the median of 38 estimates in aBloomberg News survey. From a year earlier, production rose 1 percent when adjusted for working days.
The Bundesbank downgraded its outlook for the German economy today, while pointing to a gradual recovery in the course of the year. Exports in April rose more than forecast, supporting the central bank’s view that trade with faster-growing markets in Asia and the U.S. will help offset the effects of six quarters of recession in the 17-nation euro area.
“The German economy is gradually exiting the weak phase that it had around the turn of the year,” Mario Gruppe, an economist at NordLB in Hanover, said before the release. “It is however a growth path that has a few potholes in it. It will be a recovery that now and again has setbacks.”
After the European Central Bank left interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent yesterday, President Mario Draghi reiterated his view that the region’s economy will still return to growth this year.
