Rome, Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Italian industrial production in November rose for the first time since August, led by a surge in the manufacturing of machinery and domestic appliances. Production at factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8 percent from October, and climbed 2.7 percent from a year ago, the first rise in 17 months, the government said. Economists predicted a 0.2 percent monthly rise. Manufacturing also rose in Germany, France and the U.K. ``We are producing marginally more and are hopeful of business picking up later this year,'' said Riccardo Cavalleroni, managing director of Boero Bartolomeo SpA, which makes varnish for commercial ships. ``People are still wavering though.'' Italy's debt, the highest in the dozen countries sharing the euro, may make it more difficult for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to cut taxes to stimulate growth. Europe's fourth- largest economy grew 0.3 percent in the third quarter. Fiat SpA's plans to fire 8,100 workers at its unprofitable car unit triggered strikes last year that crippled production.
Today's figures are the third set of improved industrial production data this week in the dozen countries sharing the euro, indicating factory orders and manufacturing may help offset a slump in retail sales in the region. German industrial production in November climbed 2.5 percent, the most in two years, and the latest sign Europe's biggest economy may avert a recession. French manufacturing in same month rose 1.2 percent. In the U.K., which is outside the euro region, manufacturing production climbed 0.4 percent. Fiat, whose market share in Italy is at a record low of 28 percent, used tax breaks to boost sales by 14.7 percent in December. ``It's too early to say whether this could mark a turnaround,'' said Pasquale M. Diana, an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank in London. ``We would have to see two or three more months of growth before saying production is on the mend.'' //www.quote.bloomberg.com