Eurozone industrial activity falls at start of third quarter

Official figures show that industrial production across the 19-country eurozone fell sharply during July, the latest signal that economic growth across the bloc faltered at the start of the third quarter.

Eurostat said Wednesday that industrial production, which includes everything from manufactured goods to mineral extraction, declined by a monthly rate of 0.8 percent in July. That was double the anticipated decline in financial markets and suggests that the eurozone economy has started the third quarter on a subdued note.

Moritz Degler, an economist at Oxford Economics, said trade war fears have taken their toll on the eurozone's export-reliant industrial sector. Still, with the domestic economy "in solid shape," Degler said eurozone growth in the third quarter will remain stable at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent.