Industrial production in France rose 3.1% in November from October, when output fell 2.8% from the previous month, the national statistics institute, INSEE reported Jan. 10. The November gain surpassed market expectations of a rise of 2.5%.
Production rose 3.9% from October in the capital goods sector and 3.8% in the electrical and electronic sector. Output of intermediate goods increased 2.1%. Output of consumer goods increased 0.7% while the auto industry gained 7.1%.
Excluding energy and agro-industrial sectors, production was up 2.6% in November from October.
An analyst at Natexis Banques Populaires, Marc Touati, said: "As has been the case since 2001, months of sharp increases continue to follow months of sharp falls."
At Xerfi, an economic consulting firm, analyst Nicolas Bouzou was more upbeat.
"There is really a recovery underway in France, slow and chaotic, but real," he said, adding that exports and a pick up in activity in Germany and Italy were the main reasons for the expansion in November.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
