France Industrial Output Falls Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - France's industrial production declined unexpectedly in January as output contracted across manufacturing, mining and construction sectors, data released by the statistical office INSEE showed on Wednesday.

Industrial production decreased 0.6 percent on a monthly basis in January, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.6 percent. This followed a 0.5 percent fall in December.

Manufacturing output was down 0.7 percent month-on-month but this was slower than the 1.0 percent decline in December.

Manufacture of food products and beverages, coke and refined petroleum products and machinery and equipment decreased in January, while manufacture of transport equipment recovered from the last month.

Mining and quarrying, energy, water supply and waste management dropped 0.2 percent, reversing a 2.2 percent rise in December. Similarly, construction output declined 3.8 percent, in contrast to the 1.8 percent increase a month ago.