Eurozone periphery plays catch-up as core shows renewed weakness

Industrial production trends are diverging within the eurozone area, with signs of renewed weakness in the ‘core’ contrasting with resurgent growth in the periphery. Production growth slowed to a crawl in Germany in the second quarter and fell marginally in France, but Spain is enjoying strong growth and a sustained upturn is evident in Italy. However, the industrial sectors of Spain and Italy remain one-quarter smaller than their price crisis peaks, highlighting the mountains still needed to be climbed by these countries in terms of rebuilding their industrial sectors.