Mexican Industrial Production Fell in April

Mexico's industrial production fell more than expected in April as declines in oil, mining and construction outweighed gains in manufacturing, and as the Easter holiday gave the month fewer working days compared with the previous year.

Industrial output fell 0.3% seasonally adjusted from March, and was 4.4% below April 2016 levels, the National Statistics Institute said Friday.

Output had been expected to fall 2.2% from a year before, according to the median estimate of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, mostly as a result of the Easter week moving to April from March.

Manufacturing, led by production of cars, auto parts and electronic equipment, remained the bright spot, rising 0.6% from March and 5.1% from a year before when adjusted for the adverse calendar effect.

Oil and gas production held steady from March. but was well below year-earlier levels, and construction activity fell, weighed down by government budget restraints that have affected infrastructure spending.

The April results support expectations that economic growth will start to slow down after a better-than-expected performance at the start of the year, since robust private consumption has also been losing momentum. Overall industrial output was down 0.8% in the first four months, compared with the same months of 2016.

Gross domestic product expanded 2.7% in the first quarter, and is expected to grow 2% this year, according to government and central bank forecasts.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 09, 2017 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)