German industrial output up in February

German industrial output returned to growth in February driven by the manufacturing sector while construction activity fell, official data showed Monday. Industrial production increased by 0.5 percent in February compared with the previous month, according to provisional figures released by the economy ministry. The figure beat expectations of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires who had pencilled in a 0.4-percent gain. In January, output fell 0.6 percent, a ministry statement said, revising the figure downwards after announcing last month that industrial output had stagnated in the first month of the year. While manufacturing output rose 0.5 percent in February and the energy sector posted an increase of 3.9 percent, construction for the month dropped 2.7 percent after expanding more than three percent in January.