By Sarah Marsh
BERLIN, June 8 (Reuters) - German industrial output rose slightly in April, as expected, and should increase further given a rebound in foreign and domestic demand, the government said on Tuesday, in a boost for growth in Europe's largest economy.
Output rose 0.9 percent on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, the Economy Ministry said, and was close to the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of 41 economists for a 0.8 percent gain.
Growth was much slower than a 4 percent jump in output in March, the biggest increase in nearly a year, but was still positive, analysts said, as the March surge was mainly due to businesses in the construction and other sectors catching up after delays caused by a harsh winter.
'These are good figures after the very strong production data in March,' said Simon Junker at Commerzbank.
The data release followed news on Monday that monthly German manufacturing orders rose by 2.8 percent, beating forecasts and adding to signs that Germany is on the path to durable growth.
Output data for March was revised up by 0.3 percentage points to show a gain of 4.3 percent, the ministry said.
'(Industry) is in very good health. It looks like the German economy is in for a strong second quarter, supported by catch-up in the construction sector,' Junker added.
Germany emerged from its deepest post-war recession in the second quarter of last year but the recovery slowed in the winter when severe weather disrupted business activity.
Recent economic indicators, such as Monday's data showing a rise in industrial orders, have beaten forecasts and pointed to a renewed pick-up.
'The sustained momentum in domestic and foreign industrial orders points to a continuing recovery in industrial production,' the ministry said in a statement.
A breakdown of the data showed that manufacturing production rose 0.5 percent on the month, while construction output rose 2.6 percent and energy output rose 4.5 percent.
'The construction sector data surprised me because we had already seen a recovery in the previous month from the stoppages due to bad weather,' said Andreas Scheuerle at Dekabank.
'The rise must be linked to the stimulus programmes.'
(For details of data, please double click on )
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Susan Fenton) Keywords: GERMANY OUTPUT/ (sarah.marsh@reuters.com; +49 30 2888 5226; RM: sarah.marsh.reuters.com@reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
BERLIN, June 8 (Reuters) - German industrial output rose slightly in April, as expected, and should increase further given a rebound in foreign and domestic demand, the government said on Tuesday, in a boost for growth in Europe's largest economy.
Output rose 0.9 percent on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, the Economy Ministry said, and was close to the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of 41 economists for a 0.8 percent gain.
Growth was much slower than a 4 percent jump in output in March, the biggest increase in nearly a year, but was still positive, analysts said, as the March surge was mainly due to businesses in the construction and other sectors catching up after delays caused by a harsh winter.
'These are good figures after the very strong production data in March,' said Simon Junker at Commerzbank.
The data release followed news on Monday that monthly German manufacturing orders rose by 2.8 percent, beating forecasts and adding to signs that Germany is on the path to durable growth.
Output data for March was revised up by 0.3 percentage points to show a gain of 4.3 percent, the ministry said.
'(Industry) is in very good health. It looks like the German economy is in for a strong second quarter, supported by catch-up in the construction sector,' Junker added.
Germany emerged from its deepest post-war recession in the second quarter of last year but the recovery slowed in the winter when severe weather disrupted business activity.
Recent economic indicators, such as Monday's data showing a rise in industrial orders, have beaten forecasts and pointed to a renewed pick-up.
'The sustained momentum in domestic and foreign industrial orders points to a continuing recovery in industrial production,' the ministry said in a statement.
A breakdown of the data showed that manufacturing production rose 0.5 percent on the month, while construction output rose 2.6 percent and energy output rose 4.5 percent.
'The construction sector data surprised me because we had already seen a recovery in the previous month from the stoppages due to bad weather,' said Andreas Scheuerle at Dekabank.
'The rise must be linked to the stimulus programmes.'
(For details of data, please double click on )
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Susan Fenton) Keywords: GERMANY OUTPUT/ (sarah.marsh@reuters.com; +49 30 2888 5226; RM: sarah.marsh.reuters.com@reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.