German industrial production rises

German industrial production grew for the fourth consecutive month in February, underlining expectations of a pick-up in Europe’s biggest economy, new government figures show.

The Economy Ministry said today that production rose 0.4% compared with the previous month and it expects figures for the full first quarter to be “appreciably above” Germany’s performance in last year’s fourth quarter. In year-on-year terms, production was up 4.8% in February.

Germany’s order book is also in good shape. Data released last week showed that industrial orders were up 0.6% on the month in February.

The government’s panel of independent economic advisers last month raised its 2014 growth forecast for Germany to 1.9% from 1.6%. Last year, the economy grew by only 0.4%.