Euro zone industrial production in April showed the steepest decline in four months, and economists point to this data as an early indication that the euro area's narrow escape from technical recession in the first quarter is unlikely to last very long.

Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell 0.8 percent month-on-month in April and the seventh time in the last eight months, statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. Spain and Italy saw factory output fall by 8.3 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. Even the currency bloc's powerhouse, Germany, reported a 0.8 percent contraction in April.

Even flat production in May and June would now leave a bigger fall in Q2 than in Q1, increasing the chances of a renewed drop in overall GDP after Q1's stagnation, Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.

Gdp Germany Germany Germany