BERLIN, May 8 (Xinhua) -- German industrial output increased in March, according to preliminary figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Wednesday.
Adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar effects, German manufacturing firms increased production by 0.5 percent in March compared to the previous month, according to Destatis.
Excluding the construction and energy industries, overall industrial production in Germany was up 0.4 percent in March compared with the previous month.
"The current production figures support the assessment that the German economy grew again somewhat in the first quarter of 2019 after stagnating in the second half of 2018," Oliver Holtemoeller, vice president of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), told Xinhua on Wednesday.
In March, the volume of consumer goods produced by German industry increased by 1.1 percent.
"The production of consumer goods developed particularly well, which was to be expected, as a number of reforms came into force at the beginning of the year, which have diverted considerably more money into households' pockets," commented Claus Michelsen, an economist at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).
Destatis, however, corrected the growth figure for German industrial output down from 0.7 percent to 0.4 percent for the month of February.
For the coming quarter, "the leading indicators point to a weakening again" and "the manufacturing sector has not yet survived its weak phase," Holtemoeller told Xinhua.
In a similar vein, the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said last week that "the industrial economy is expected to remain subdued" in view of a "weak order trend and the gloomy business climate."
