The downturn in German industry continues. Total production in October fell by 1.7 percent compared to the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office said. Compared with the same period of the previous year, production fell by 5.3 percent. Already in the previous month, production had fallen by 0.6 percent. For analysts that came as a surprise, they had expected a slight increase of 0.1 percent.
But there are also positive examples from the industry: The production of intermediate goods - these are goods that are used in the production of other goods - rose by one percent. The production of consumer goods rose slightly by 0.3 percent. By contrast, the production of capital goods fell markedly, contracting by 4.4 percent compared to the previous month.
The results of the Federal Statistical Office fit into the general picture of economic cooling in Germany. For example, a recent study by the Institute for Employment Research showed that there was more short-time working and less overtime from July to September.
Contrary to almost all expectations, the German economy grew slightly by 0.1 percent in the summer and thus escaped just under a recession.