Russia's industrial output jumps in April

Industrial output in Russia surged 10.4% last month compared with April 2009, when the country was in recession, the Federal statistics service has said.

The growth, up from 5.7% in March, was Russia's fastest in four years.

Last week, the statistics agency said that the Russian economy had grown by a revised 2.9% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2009.

The Russian economy contracted by 7.9% in 2009 after several years of robust growth fuelled by oil and gas exports.

For the first four months of 2010, the country's industrial output rose by 6.9% compared with the same period last year.

"The data points to a recovery in the economy which is in any case positive," said Uralsib economist Vladimir Tikhomirov.

However, Neil Shearing at Capital Economics said that the new data "suggest that output is increasing on a monthly basis, but at a fairly modest pace compared to other large emerging markets".

Car production jumped 53% in April in comparison with the same period last year, as it was the first full month of the government's car scrappage scheme.

Gas and oil production rose 27.5% and 1.8% respectively.