BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial production was weaker than expected in January, mainly due to a sharp drop in the output of energy, data from the European Union's statistics office showed on Wednesday.
Production in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell 1.0 percent month-on-month in January for a 2.7 percent year-on-year rise. Economists polled by Reuters had expected only 0.4 percent monthly decline and a 4.7 percent year-on-year increase.
Eurostat also revised upwards year-on-year data for December to 5.3 percent growth from the previously reported 5.2 percent.
Energy had the biggest downward pull on the aggregate number because its production fell 6.6 percent on the month and 10.4 percent from a year earlier.