German industrial production increases slightly in June

German industrial output increased for the first time in recent four months in June, but was still below economists’ expectation, official data showed Thursday.
Adjusted for price, seasonal and working day swings, industrial production increased by 0.3 percent in June from the previous month, said the German Federal Statistical Office.
This was the first rise since March, but failed to meet economists’ expectation that the output would grow by 1.3 percent month-on-month.
The total production in the second quarter was 1.5 percent less than in the first one, according to data from the German Federal Economy Ministry.
“Economic activity was weaker in the second quarter, as expected, after an exceptional strong growth of manufacturing industry favored by mild winter in the first quarter,” said the ministry in a statement, adding that “geopolitical events are likely to have an impact”.
It expected that industrial growth would be moderate in coming months, and the overall trend would be “positive”.
The German economy was under pressure as tensions with Russia intensified. In June, new orders in German manufacturing dropped by 3.2 percent, the steepest fall since September 2011.
The German Engineering Association has cut its forecast for output of machine and engineering industry in 2014 to 1 percent from its previous expectation of 3 percent, referring to the Ukraine crisis and tension with Russia.
Official data of German gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter was scheduled to be released next Thursday. German central bank forecast that the German economy would stagnated during the period.