BRUSSELS, Oct 17 - Euro zone industrial output data for August was slightly better than forecast in data released on Friday, showing a fall of 0.4 percent month-on-month and an annual rise of 0.1 percent. Economists had on average expected the month-on-month figure to be down 0.8 percent and year-on-year to slip 1.1 percent. Eurostat said in a statement it had also revised higher the figures for July. The data now showed a rise in output of one percent month-on-month, compared with a gain of 0.6 percent, and a climb of 0.8 percent year-on-year compared with a previous release of a fall of 0.3 percent. The European Commission is expecting the euro zone's sluggish economy to show a recovery in the second half of this year and get back to more healthy progress in 2004. But some top economies are still facing problems. French industrial output declined 0.9 percent month-on-month in August after a crippling summer heatwave while German industrial production slid 2.1 percent.//