By Maria Martinez
BERLIN (Reuters) -German industrial output shrank in August for the fourth consecutive month, the federal statistics office said on Monday, an indication that the sector remains under serious pressure.
Industrial production fell slightly more than expected in August by 0.2% compared to the previous month. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.1% decline.
The statistics office revised July production data to a 0.6% decline month-on-month, compared with a provisional figure of a 0.8% drop.
The less-volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that production was 1.9% lower from June to August 2023 than in the previous three months, the statistics office data showed.
A 2.4% drop in production in construction on the previous month, a 6.6% decline in energy production and a 2.3% fall in the manufacture of machinery and equipment hurt overall performance in August, the data showed.
By contrast, production growth in the automotive industry had a positive impact, posting a 7.6% expansion on the month.
Industrial orders rose by 3.9% in August due to a boost in computing, electronic and optical products, but the outlook for the sector remains challenging, Destatis said.
Germany’s manufacturing sector, which accounts for about a fifth of its economy, remains mired in a downturn.
The HCOB final Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing stood at 39.6 in September, far below the 50 level separating growth from contraction.
(Writing by Friederike Heine and Maria Martinez, Editing by Ozan Ergenay and Gerry Doyle)
