- European Commission
Industrial production data from France and Italy disappointed. French industrial output dropped 1.6% in December, following a negative reading in November. Analysts, however, had expected a marginal increase of 0.1%. Moreover, manufacturing production declined 0.8% in December, whereas economists had predicted a 0.4% rise. In annual terms, French industrial output decreased 0.7%, compared with a 2.8% gain in November. Preliminary GDP data showed a stable growth in the final quarter of the year, while the Bank of France expects the Euro zone's second biggest economy to accelerate the pace of growth in the first quarter of 2016. France's economy expanded 0.2% on a quarterly basis in the three months through December, while on an annual basis GDP rose 1.3%.
Meanwhile, industrial production in Italy, the Euro zone's third biggest, dipped 0.7% in December, following a negative reading in the preceding month. Analysts had anticipated the reading to pick up 0.2%. On an annual basis, output of Italian factories decreased 1.0% in the reported month, compared with a revised 1.1% gain in November. The Italian economy posted mixed data over the last two months, with both PMI macro indicators showing a weak performance, amid upbeat consumer inflation and an improving jobless rate.
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