German industrial output posts lower-than-forecast fall

Data released here on Friday showedcased that German industrial production slumped by 1% in August, noting that Europe''s biggest economy could be losing momentum. Releasing the data, the ministry said that the August decline was likely to have been exaggerated by the impact of the summer holiday season in Germany. On Thursday, the ministry released figures showing a surprise 1.4 % drop in factory orders following a 3.2% fall in domestic orders. "Faced with a slowdown of orders, industrial production is expected to continue to lose momentum," the ministry said. The Economics and Technology Ministry would say that output had dropped by 1.8% in August after it bounded ahead by 3.9% in July. Still, the publication of Friday''s data followed the release of a steady stream of economic indicators that have pointed to the Germany economy slowing in the run up to the end of the year. Leading the contraction in industrial production was a sharp 4.9% drop in output in the nation''s consumer goods sector. Building industry production contracted by 1.2%, while the manufacturing output fell by 1%. For the two months of the third quarter (July and August) total industrial output rose by 2.8% compared with May and June. When the July-August production data are compared with the same two months last year, output rose by 9%.