German industrial production made unexpected gains in July, but experts are hesitant to say whether this signals the start of economic recovery in Germany. They attribute the gains to the catch-up work needed following the recent strike action of the metalworkers union in eastern Germany. According to the Economics Ministry data, production in the metal branch in July was up 2.4 percent over June levels. Industry analysts had expected a mere 0.8 percent growth in production, given that June production levels had fallen by 0.4 percent.