German industrial production rises 0.3 per cent in December as economy ends year on soft note

Industrial production in Germany rose 0.3 per cent in December, not enough to significantly help Europe’s largest economy as it ended the year on a soft note.

The Economy Ministry also said Thursday that, according to revised figures, production in November slipped by 0.2 per cent _ compared with the 0.2 per cent rise initially reported. That followed a 2 per cent drop in October.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski said “industrial production in the last three months of 2012 disappointed and confirms the contraction of the entire economy by around 0.5 per cent … in the fourth quarter of 2012.”

But, he says “even if the headline figure is no reason to become overly enthusiastic, today’s industrial production data indicate that the industrial slowdown has come to an end.”