PARIS, Dec 12 - France's industrial output rose 1.3 percent in October, the biggest monthly rise since August 2001, signalling a strong start to the fourth quarter in the euro zone's second largest economy, data showed on Friday. National statistics office INSEE said industrial production fell 1.2 percent year-on-year. The month-on-month rise was more than double the 0.6 percent increase forecast by economists. The statistics office said industrial production excluding energy, agri-food businesses and construction -- considered by INSEE as the best measure of manufacturing output -- rose 1.0 percent in October compared with the previous month.
INSEE said the month-on-month rises were driven by a 2.2 percent increase in output of consumer goods. Production of semi-finished goods and industrial capital goods both rose 1.0 percent from the previous month. INSEE revised its September data to show a 0.5 percent rise in industrial output, compared to an increase of 0.4 percent previously. It revised up September's manufacturing output reading to a rise of 1.0 percent from 0.9 percent previously. The report came a day after the Bank of France said an economic recovery was still on the cards despite a lull in French industrial activity in November. The central bank forecast 0.5 percent growth for the fourth quarter of 2003, and 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2004. French Finance Minister Francis Mer has increasingly been reporting a pickup in the pace of growth and is counting on a fuller recovery next year to secure growth of 1.7 percent in 2004 after 0.5 percent or less in 2003 and 1.2 percent in 2002. Reflecting the expectations for a positive end to the year, French advertising group Publicis said on Thursday its fourth-quarter business so far was "relatively solid". Separately, France's seasonally adjusted trade surplus fell to 329 million euros in October from 711 million in September, the French customs office said.//