Eurozone industrial production rebounds

Berlin - Industrial production in the eurozone rebounded in September, but the 0.6% month-on-month gain was less than what economists expected as the output of consumer goods slumped.

According to data released by the European Union statistics office on Wednesday, the rise in factory output failed to completely reverse the 1.4% contraction in August.

Analysts surveyed by dpa-AFX had expected a 0.7% rise in September output, but production was dragged down by a hefty 2.6% fall in the output of durable consumer goods.

On the positive side, production of goods such as machinery and equipment rose month on month by 2.9% in September.

Compared with September 2013, output in the eurozone rose by 0.6%.

Wednesday's data helped set the stage for the Friday release of new gross domestic product data for the eurozone, which analysts expect will show a meagre 0.1% expansion for the currency bloc in the three months to the end of September, after it failed to grow in the second quarter.