German Industrial Output Unexpectedly Shrinks for Second Month

Output was down 1.4% in October vs estimated increase of 0.9%
Ministry says activity was damped by calendar effects

Robotic arms weld parts to be used in an automobile chassis in the Volkswagen AG factory, as part of the Think Blue sustainability initiative in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Friday, May 19, 2017. European car sales fell the most in four years in April as the shift of Easter from March reduced buyers time for shopping, while registrations in the U.K. were further sapped by tax changes.Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

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By Piotr Skolimowski

December 7, 2017 at 7:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

German industrial production unexpectedly declined for a second month in October as workers took extra days off, interrupting a run that put Europe’s largest economy on track toward its best performance in six years.

Output declined 1.4 percent from September, when it fell a revised 0.9 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said on Thursday. The reading, which is typically volatile, compares with forecasts for a 0.9 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey. Production was up 2.7 percent from a year earlier.