German industrial production falls unexpectedly in October

(Sharecast News) - German industrial production fell unexpectedly in October, due to declines in energy production and the automotive industry, according to official data published on Friday. Production decreased 1% month on month and 4.5% year on year, the federal statistics office said. Economists had forecast a 1.2% rise.

"This means that the industrial economy is still in a downturn," said the economy ministry in a statement.

The decline was mainly due to a sharp drop of 8.9% in energy production, while there was a 1.9% fall in output in the automotive industry.

In the less volatile three-month comparison, production in the period from August to October was 0.4% down on the previous three months.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com