Czech Industrial Output Rebounds, Trade Surplus Grows

(RTTNews) - The Czech Republic's industrial production expanded unexpectedly in September on the back of recovery in the manufacturing sector, while the trade surplus rose as exports grew faster than imports, separate reports from the Czech Statistical Office revealed on Thursday.

Industrial production advanced a working-day-adjusted 0.4 percent year-on-year in September, reversing a 1.3 percent fall in August. Meanwhile, economists had expected a 0.2 percent decrease.

Among sectors, the positive contribution came from manufacturing, where production advanced by 1.7 percent. On the other hand, mining and quarrying contracted the most, by 19.3 percent from last year, and utility sector output shrank by 9.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, industrial output expanded by 1.1 percent in September.

Construction output advanced 12.8 percent annually, while it fell 3.2 percent monthly in September.

In a separate report, the Czech Statistical Office said the trade surplus of the country rose to CZK 29.7 billion in September from CZK 23.3 billion in the corresponding month last year. In August, the trade balance showed a surplus of CZK 4.1 billion.

Exports climbed 3.7 percent year-on-year in September, and imports increased by 2.3 percent.