Euro zone industrial production was slightly ahead of expectations in February as data showed this morning it inched up 0.1 per cent from the previous month and rose a stronger 0.6 per cent from a year earlier.
Economists had expected output to stagnate on a monthly basis and to climb 0.5 per cent from a year earlier.
The figures, released in a statement by European Union statistics office Eurostat, showed January data were revised to show a fall of 0.3 per cent from the previous month and a rise of 0.7 per cent from a year earlier.
Eurostat had previously estimated the respective changes as a fall of 0.4 per cent and an increase of 0.6 per cent.
The European Commission is looking for the euro zone economy to expand by 1.8 per cent this year as a recovery takes hold. It expects this to accelerate to 2.3 per cent in 2005.