Mubasher: German industry saw a slowdown in October, as production unexpectedly fell, indicating the fragility of Europe’s largest economy as it headed into the fourth quarter of the year.

Overall industrial production, including output from manufacturers, energy and construction sectors, fell 0.5% month-on-month in October, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday.

A revision showed that industrial production ticked up 0.1% in September month-on-month.

Meanwhile, economists polled by Bloomberg expected a modest rise of 0.3% in October.

However, industrial output in Germany rose 1.6% year-on-year during the month.

The volume of produced capital goods, an indicator of investment inflows, edged up 0.3% in October.

Meanwhile, construction output declined 0.3% in July, while energy production slid 3.2% month-on-month, according to Destatis.

Industrial data could be erratic from one month to another, but the latest reading raised questions over a Bundesbank forecast that the German economy would see a strong recovery in the fourth quarter.

By 9:05 am GMT, the EUR/USD pair inched down 0.01% to $ 1.1373.