Italian industrial output fell 1.0% in October from the month before, data showed on Wednesday, in a renewed sign of weakness for the country's long-struggling manufacturing sector.
A Reuters survey of 12 analysts had pointed to a 0.3% decrease, after a 2.7% rise in September had reversed a fall of the same size in August.
October's decline extended to all the main industrial sectors with the exception of energy, national statistics agency ISTAT said, driving a 0.9% fall in the August-October period compared to the previous three months.
On a work day-adjusted year-on-year basis, industrial output in the euro zone's third-largest economy was down 0.3% in October versus a forecast for a 0.2% increase.
"Today's data dampens hopes of a positive contribution from industry to fourth-quarter growth," said Paolo Pizzoli, senior economist at ING.
However, Italian think tank Prometeia forecast a modest pick-up in industrial output between November and January, noting "encouraging signs" from recent business confidence surveys.
A positive signal arrived last week from a purchasing managers' survey of the manufacturing sector, which signalled a return into growth territory in November.
ISTAT last week forecast that the Italian economy will grow by 0.5% this year, trimming a previous estimate of 0.6% made in June.
(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in the headline)
