Industrial output rose 1.3 percent in October compared to a year ago, according to the Czech Statistics Office. It found that the reviving automobile sector was primarily behind the growth and marked the first time in 16 months that the year-on-year indicator hadn’t fallen. In September, it fell 2 percent while in April during the first wave of the pandemic, output collapsed by nearly one-third. Compared to September 2020, meanwhile, output was up a full 3 percent. By contrast, construction output continued its rapid decline, falling 10.5 percent compared to October 2019. That was an even worse result than in September when it fell 8.8 percent. This is being blamed on construction offices which aren’t working at anything like full-speed, meaning that permits are getting stuck even more than usual.
