Eurozone industrial production continues its recovery - ING

Bert Colijn, a Senior Eurozone Economist at ING, notes that Eurozone's production rose by 4.1% in July as the start of the third quarter is still boosted by the positive effects on industries reopening after lockdowns, but downside risks to the industrial outlook remain.

"The increase in July was not as fast as it was in June, but still eurozone industry continues to see meaningful increases on a monthly basis to get closer to pre-corona levels of output. The recovery was still very broad-based, with all product categories experiencing a solid increase."

"Almost all eurozone countries saw production growth in July, with especially strong rebound effects seen in Spain and Italy at 9.4 and 7.4%."

"While the service sector is starting to see more signs of rebound fatigue, August survey data on the manufacturing sector suggests that industrial production continued to regain significant ground. This is not a luxury though; production is currently still roughly 7% below pre-crisis levels. While domestic demand strength at the start of the lockdown recovery has been promising, worries about the export environment and increasing unemployment mean that the outlook for industrial recovery continues to be rather uncertain for the months ahead."