BERLIN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The German economy will accelerate in the current fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018 after a "growth pause" over the summer, a monthly report published on Monday by the German Central Bank (Bundesbank) predicted.
According to the report, Germany's strong economic momentum recorded during past years remained "principally intact." Weaker than expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth between July and September was largely seen by the Bundesbank as a one-off effect of difficulties experienced by the German automotive industry during its transition to the new Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) standard for exhaust systems testing.
"The already available data for September on passenger vehicle volumes from the Automotive Industry Association indicates that these problems lasted until the end of the quarter. Without the automotive sector, however, average industrial production in the months of July and August remained at the level of the previous quarter", the report read.
The Bundesbank emphasized that resulting temporary losses of production left a "deep mark on industrial production." The Frankfurt-based monetary institution further noted that growth in the booming German construction sector also appeared to have slowed in Q3 alongside an only moderate expansion of retail revenue in the eurozone's largest economy.
Nevertheless, the central bank economists expressed confidence on Monday that WLTP-related issues would be overcome soon by carmakers and that the resulting "growth pause" would be short-lived. "Overall the business climate has improved as well in Germany in the third quarter so that one can already expected a significant expansion of economic production in the running quarter again."
On another positive note, the Bundesbank highlighted that the number of employed Germans continued to rise in August by 565,000 individuals or 1.3 percent compared to the same period last year. This growth was largely driven by a longer-standing trend in which more and more inhabitants were finding generally better-paid and more stable forms of socially-insured work.
