Euro zone September industry output falls less than expected

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial production fell by less than expected in September, driven down mostly by a steep drop in the output of durable goods, such as cars or fridges, the European Union statistics office said on Monday.

Eurostat said industrial production in the 19-member single currency bloc in September decreased by 0.8 percent during the month, although was 1.2 percent higher year-on-year.

A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a steeper monthly fall of 1.0 percent, and a more moderate 1.0 percent increase from a year earlier.

The monthly drop in September follows an upwardly revised surge in industrial production in August of 1.8 percent. Eurostat also revised up its earlier estimates for the year-on-year output change in August to 2.2 percent.

Those compared with the originally reported figures of 1.6 and 1.8 percent respectively.

Euro zone output continued a seven-month pattern in which increases in one month are followed by declines the following month.

The monthly fall of production in September was mostly due to a 5.6 percent drop in the output of durable consumer goods, such as cars or fridges, which more than erased the 4.8 percent rise recorded in August.

In a sign of lower appetite for investment, production of capital goods, such as industrial machinery, went down by 2.2 percent on the month, after a steep increase of 4.2 percent in August.

Output decreased also for energy (-0.2 percent) and intermediate goods (-0.7 percent), while it increased by 0.3 percent for non-durable consumer goods, such as clothes.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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