Two of the euro zone’s largest economies – France and Italy – have announced surprise surges in industrial output during August.

Combined with a solid German figure earlier this week, that has bolstered expectations the region will come out of recession during the third-quarter. Italy reported a seven percent monthly rise and revised its July result upwards. France reported a 1.8 percent rise in industrial output in August from July. There were also signs of economic recovery from the latest European air freight figures. The amount of cargo being flown is still shrinking but more slowly than for several months. Cargo demand in the region fell by 11.6 percent year-on-year in August, compared with a decrease of 13.4 percent in July. In the preceding six months the decline was an average 22.4 percent.More about: Euro, Eurozone

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