Eurozone industrial production down 0.2% in January

Eurozone seasonally adjusted industrial production declined by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in January, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union(EU) said Wednesday. Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 0.1 percent in the 28-member EU. In December 2013, industrial production decreased by 0.4 percent in both zones. On annually basis, industrial production in January grew by 2.1 percent in the eurozone and by 2.4 percent in the EU compared with January 2013. The decreasing industrial production in the eurozone in January is due to falling production of energy and durable consumer goods, which dropped by 2.5 percent and 0.6 percent respectively compared with December 2013. In the EU, the increase can be attributed to production rising of capital goods and durable consumer goods. Among the EU member states, the largest decreases in industrial production were registered in Latvia at 10.7 percent, the Netherlands at 6.4 percent, while the highest increase was in Croatia at 5.4 percent.