Industrial output down 0.2 in Aug vs down 0.1 forecast
Economists expect further contraction in coming months

BERLIN, Oct 9 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, stoking recession fears.

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 further drop in German industrial production in August was better than it looked as it was driven by volatile components, said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.

However, she continued to expect high interest rates and falling demand to lead to a further contraction in German industrial output in the coming months.

This is one of the reasons why we are anticipating German GDP to contract in both the third quarter and the fourth quarter this year, Palmas said. Two consecutive GDP contractions are defined as a technical recession.

The statistics office revised July production data to a 0.6 decline monthonmonth, compared with a provisional figure of a 0.8 drop.

The lessvolatile threemonth on threemonth 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…