Industrial output in the euro zone fell by 0.3 per cent in November from October amid a 1.5 per cent drop in the production of capital goods, the European Union's statistics office said today.
Compared with November 2003, Eurostat said industrial output in the 12-nation area was 0.5 per cent higher.
The monthly decline in output was slightly smaller than expected by economists polled by Reuters news agency who, on average, had expected industrial output to decline by 0.5 per cent from the previous month.
But economists had forecast November output to be 0.6 per cent higher than a year earlier. Eurostat also revised the monthly decline in October to 0.6 per cent compared with an originally reported 0.5 per cent.
On an annual basis, October output was revised to show a 1.1 per cent rise, up from a previously reported 1.0 per cent rise.
A breakdown showed the monthly output of durable consumer goods in November droped by 0.7 per cent along with the sharp decline in capital goods.
But output from the energy and non-durable consumer goods sectors rose slightly. On an annual basis, the output of durable consumer goods was down by 3.4 per cent in November, while the output from all other sectors improved.
The highest annual rise was seen from the energy sector, where production rose by 2.6 per cent.