French industrial production slips in January

French industrial production fell back in December, with output from the mining and construction sectors especially weak, although factory output only retraced a part of the previous month's gains.

Total industrial output slipped 0.9% month-on-month according to INSEE, which was slightly worse than the 0.7% drop economists had penciled in.

Production in manufacturing fell 0.8% over the month, after a gain of 2.4% in November.

Output in Energy and Mining on the other hand dropped by 2.0%, more than reversing the prior month's advance, while construction sector output declined 0.9% after a 0.3% rise in November.

Versus the year ago month, industrial production slipped from a revised rate of 1.9% in November to 1.3%.

Nvertheless, the "poor" headline reading was not especially worrying given the upward revision to November's figure, said Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Furthermore, for the fourth quarter as a whole total production was up by a "solid" 1.1% after a dip of 0.1% over the prior three months, Vistesen said.