BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial production rebounded in April on a monthly basis after two consecutive falls, rising more than expected mostly because of a surge in the output of durable consumer goods, such as cars, the European Union statistics office said on Tuesday.
Industrial production in the 19-member single currency bloc was 1.1 percent higher in April than in March, above the forecast in a Reuters poll of economists of a 0.8 percent rise.
The figure sends a message of confidence about the euro zone economy and inverts the negative trend started in February, when output decreased by 1.2 percent, and continued in March which recorded a slightly upwardly revised 0.7 percent drop in industrial production (from a previous estimate of -0.8 percent).
Year-on-year, euro zone industrial output rose in April by 2.0 percent, also in this case significantly more than market estimates of a 1.4 percent increase, and much more than the 0.2 percent growth recorded the previous month.
Euro zone April monthly output increased mostly because of the output of consumer durable goods, such as cars and fridges, which rose 2.3 percent after a 0.8 percent drop the previous month.
All other sectors recorded increases in production. Output of capital goods, such as machinery, went up by 1.9 percent, and production of non-durable consumer goods increased 1.6 percent.
Output of energy products increased 0.3 percent and production of intermediate goods rose 0.4 percent.
The two largest economies of the euro zone saw a rebound in their April monthly output after two months of fall, with production in Germany growing by 1.1 percent, and in France by 1.2 percent. Italian industrial production increased 0.5 percent, after having being flat in March.