Eurozone industrial production sees surprise rise

Industrial production in the 17 countries that use the euro rose unexpectedly by 1.2% in August. The EU's statistics office, Eurostat, said it meant industrial production had risen by 5.3% on an annual basis. The increase may ease concerns that the crisis-torn eurozone is heading back into recession in the third quarter. Economists had forecast a rise of 2.2% on an annual basis, and fall of 0.7% on the month. August's increase follows a rise of 1.1% in July. The figures suggest the industrial sector is bucking the wider economic slowdown. In Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, output fell by 1% month-on-month, but was 7.8% higher than 12 months ago. Meanwhile the Irish Republic, which is implementing an austerity programme, saw its production increase 4.4% in August and jump by 10.1% year-on-year.