Euro zone industrial production dipped in March against February and rose less than expected in annual terms due to falling output of consumer goods, pointing to a slowing economy.
Industrial production in the 15 countries using the euro fell 0.2 per cent month-on-month for a 2 per cent year-on-year gain, European Union statistics office Eurostat said today.
Eurostat revised upwards its year-on-year production growth data for February to 3.2 per cent from 3.1 per cent and kept the month-on-month growth unchanged at 0.3 per cent.
"Tightening credit conditions, uncertainty regarding the economic outlook and the strength of the euro are weighing on manufacturers' mood," said Clemente De Lucia, economist at BNP Paribas.
"Under these conditions, we expect GDP growth to significantly moderate to below 1.5 per cent this year, with respect to the solid 2.6 per cent recorded in 2007," De Lucia said.
The data is likely to reinforce concerns about the fragility of consumer spending across the euro zone as production in March was weakest in the consumer sector.
The output of durable and non-durable consumer goods fell 1.5 and 0.5 per cent on a monthly basis respectively and shrank 3.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively in annual terms.
With exports under pressure from a strong euro and a slowing world economy, weakness in consumer demand adds to indications of a slowing euro zone economy.