By Mucahithan Avicoglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - The euro area's industrial production rose 2.6% on a monthly basis in March, exceeding forecasts, according to data from Eurostat on Thursday.
The markets had forecast a 1.9% month-on-month increase for the month.
Industrial production for capital goods rose 3.2%, durable consumer goods climbed 3.1%, and non-durable consumer goods 2.3%.
Meanwhile, energy goods fell 0.5% month-on-month in March.
In the EU, industrial production climbed 1.9% on a monthly basis in March.
On an annual basis, industrial production in the eurozone and the EU climbed 3.6% and 2.7% respectively, in March.
In the euro area, the highest increase was seen in non-durable consumer goods with a 15.7% annual rise, while intermediate goods production fell 0.2% in March.
As for the EU, annual industrial production for non-durable consumer goods saw the largest increase at 12.2%, while the highest fall was in intermediate goods, with 0.2%.
The eurozone, or EA20, represents member states that use the bloc’s single currency, the euro, while the EU27 includes all member countries.