Hungary’s industrial output falls by 1.4 pc in June – UPDATE

Industrial output in Hungary dropped by an annual 1.4 percent in June according to unadjusted data, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Wednesday.

Industrial output rose by 4.1 percent according to workday-adjusted data, KSH added.

In a month-on-month comparison, industrial output was down a seasonally- and workday-adjusted 1.8 percent.

The decline in industrial production was broad-based in June. The pace of output growth slowed in vehicle manufacturing and the food, beverages and tobacco products segment while output in the computer, electronics and optical products segment decreased, KSH said.

In the first six months of the year, industrial output was up 5.4 percent from a year earlier.

As we wrote a week ago, Hungary’s three-month rolling average jobless rate reached 3.3 percent in April-June, edging down from 3.4 percent in the previous three-month period and down from 3.6 percent twelve months earlier, read more HERE.

Analyst Gergely Suppán of Takarékbank said the disappointing June industrial output data show that Hungary’s industry follows the weakening European and German business trends while still outperforming those, with support from the growing production of new car models, the installation of new export capacities and strong domestic demand. Takarékbank’s analysts forecast full-year industrial output growth of 5.5-6 percent in 2019 compared to 3.6 percent last year.

Péter Virovácz of ING Bank said the latest industrial output data suggest a slowdown in the pace of economic growth, with industrial output growth decelerating to 5.5 percent in the second quarter.

All signs show that GDP growth must have peaked in the first quarter and a gradual slowdown in the pace of economic growth is already under way, he added.

Source: MTI