Industrial production in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, unexpectedly declined in June led by a drop in investment goods such as machinery and trucks.
Production fell 0.6 percent from May, when it rose a revised 2.9 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists had forecast a gain of 0.5 percent, the median of 25 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. From a year earlier, production increased 10.9 percent when adjusted for the number of work days.
Economic growth in the euro region, Germany’s biggest export market, may weaken as governments cut spending to trim budget deficits and restore investor confidence. At the same time, Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis has pushed the euro down 8 percent against the dollar this year, making exports to countries outside the 16-nation currency bloc more competitive.
