Eurozone industrial production falls for second month in July

Eurozone industrial production fell by 0.1% in July, marking the second consecutive monthly decline following a downward revision of June's data. Despite the headline contraction, the decline was smaller than the 0.2% expected by analysts. Growth in sectors such as energy (0.9%), capital goods (0.5%), and durable consumer goods (0.9%) helped offset a 1.6% drop in non-durable consumer goods.

Performance varied significantly across the region. Luxembourg, Croatia, and Ireland saw the strongest monthly increases, while Denmark, Bulgaria, and Lithuania experienced the sharpest declines. Notably, Cyprus bucked the broader European trend by recording a 1.1% rebound in industrial output.

In related economic developments, wage growth in the Eurozone slowed to 3.1% in the second quarter, down from 3.3% in the first quarter. This deceleration provides some relief to the European Central Bank (ECB) in its efforts to manage inflation and mitigate the risk of a wage-price spiral.