Industrial production in October declined
Industrial production in October declined slightly, also due to two nationwide
“bridge days”.
Manufacturing output on such a day is, on average, around one-
third lower than on a normal working day. But, as experience shows, the effect
is smaller in months with two “bridge days”, because only one of the days is
usually used for a long weekend. 1 After slipping slightly in October, industrial
production gathered steam in November, recording a strong month-over-month
increase of 4.3%. The PMIs point to further production gains in December. The
Manufacturing PMI, for instance, marked an all-time high of 63.3 and, at 58.8,
the Composite PMI was close to its 80-month high of 58.9.
Incoming orders paint a similar picture, with average order intake in October and
November up by around 2.7% on the third quarter.
Robust growth was driven by domestic orders, but also by rising demand from the euro area and the non-
EMU countries.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18.d:97/nws-01