Eurozone industrial production figures for November came in weaker than expected, marking a hat-trick of monthly falls.

Output fell by 0.3% compared to October across the 17 nation using the euro, surprising economists who had expected it to grow by 0.1%.

The figure, which includes all industry except for construction, was down on the year before by 3.7%, according to official numbers from Eurostat.

This was worse than the 3.2% contraction that had been forecast.

However, the rate of decline has eased following the 2.3% and 1% drops reported in September and October, respectively.

On the monthly figure, production of energy fell by 1.6% in the euro area, while non-durable consumer goods were down by 1.2%.

Production of durable consumer goods fell by 1.1%, while intermediate goods dropped by 0.3%.

Capital goods was the only category that saw growth, up by 0.7% across the eurozone.

The annual measure showed production of durable consumer goods fell by 7.7% compared to November 2011.

Intermediate goods dropped by 4.8% while capital goods were down by 4.4% and non-durable consumer goods declined by 3.0%.

Production of energy was the sole exception, up by 0.5%.

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