Euro zone Dec production much stronger than expected

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial production was much stronger than expected in December, data showed on Wednesday, ending 2021 on a strong note despite restrictions due to the Omicron coronavirus variant that slowed overall growth in the fourth quarter.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said industrial output in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 1.2% month-on-moth in December for a 1.6% year-on-year gain.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.3% monthly rise and a 0.5% annual decline.

Eurostat said the monthly increase was led by capital goods rising 2.6% from November, which helped offset shrinking production of energy and durable consumer goods.

But in year-on-year terms durable consumer goods showed a strong increase of 2.7%, behind only the output of non-durable goods which jumped 7.7%, while capital goods declined 1.0%.

Industrial output is an important component of gross domestic product, which rose 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the October-December period for a 4.6% year-on-year expansion.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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