BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Eurozone industrial production declined for the first time in four months in April as the positive momentum from frontloading of orders from the US faded, official data revealed Friday.
Industrial output registered a monthly fall of 2.4 percent in April, offsetting March's 2.4 percent increase, Eurostat said. Production was forecast to drop 1.6 percent.
All components of the industrial production declined from the previous month, with output of non-durable consumer goods recording the biggest fall of 3.0 percent.
This was followed by a 1.6 percent drop in energy output and 1.1 percent decrease in capital goods production. At the same time, output of intermediate goods and durable consumer goods eased 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
On a yearly basis, industrial output growth slowed sharply to 0.8 percent from 3.7 percent in March. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 1.4 percent in April.
In the EU27, industrial production dropped 1.8 percent in April from the previous month but increased 0.6 percent from the last year.
Among member states, the highest annual increases were recorded in Ireland, Finland, and Croatia. Meanwhile, the largest decreases were seen in Denmark, Bulgaria and Slovenia.
ING economist Carsten Brzeski said the euro area manufacturing sector is mainly affected by cyclical turning of the inventory cycle and Donald Trump's tariffs. It looks like eurozone manufacturing has been bottoming out, he noted.
'While there are signs of optimism, the outlook for the eurozone's manufacturing sector remains incredibly uncertain,' Brzeski added.
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