EA industrial production weakened further in May 2008

Industrial production (excluding construction) in the EA weakened further in May 2008. IP working day adjusted (not seasonally adjusted data series) compared to May 2007 was down more than neg. 5% in Estonia, Greece, Spain, Latvia, and Portugal. It was down less than neg. 5% in France, Italy, Sweden and UK. Production indices working day adjusted were below 100 (base year 2000) only in Greece, Italy, Portugal and UK and close to base year in Spain and France.
From this it is clear that IP (less construction) has slowed significantly in the EA but remains strong in most Eastern European countries and Germany.

from Eurostat:
In May 2008 compared with May 2007, production of capital goods increased by 2.2% in the euro area and by 1.9% in the EU27. Intermediate goods fell by 0.6% in both zones. Energy dropped by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1.1% in the EU27. Non-durable consumer goods declined by 3.2% and 2.8% respectively. Durable consumer goods decreased by 5.2% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU27.
Among the Member States for which data are available for May 2008, industrial production rose in twelve and fell in nine. The highest increases were registered in Ireland (+9.2%), Bulgaria (+8.6%) and Denmark (+7.4%), while the most significant decreases were recorded in Latvia (-8.1%), Estonia (-6.7%) and Greece (-6.6%).
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source: Industrial production down by 1.9% in euro area Down by 1.4% in EU27 Eusrostat newsrelease http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2008/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2008_MONTH_07/4-14072008-EN-AP.PDF