Finland Industrial Production Growth Eases In April

(RTTNews) - Finland's industrial production growth moderated sharply in April, figures from Statistics Finland showed on Wednesday.

Industrial output rose 1.9 percent year-over-year in April, slower than the downwardly revised 7.1 percent surge in March, which was the quickest growth in eleven months.

Among main sectors, output produced in the manufacturing sector logged a slower expansion of 1.1 percent versus 5.7 percent in March. Similarly, the annual growth in the utility sector output eased to 8.6 percent from 15.5 percent.

The slowdown in overall industrial production was also significantly influenced by a 4.5 percent contraction in mining and quarrying production. Chemical industry output advanced 5.5 percent from last year, though much slower than the 20.7 percent surge a month ago.

On a monthly basis, industrial production decreased 2.6 percent after rising 2.8 percent in March.

Separate official data showed that the value of new orders in manufacturing grew 13.6 percent annually in April, following a 7.5 percent recovery in the prior month.