PARIS (Reuters) - French industrial production unexpectedly fell 0.8 percent in June from May, figures from the INSEE official statistics agency showed on Wednesday, due largely to a decline in refinery activity during nationwide strikes.
A Reuters poll of 22 economists had an average forecast for a rise of 0.1 percent with estimates ranging from -1.0 to +1.3 percent. <FRIP=ECI>
The decline was driven by a 12.4 percent drop in the refining sector, INSEE said, following a 21 percent decrease the previous month, as strikes at Total's refineries disrupted production. The French oil major was only able to resume production around the middle of June after the 27-day strike.
But June output was also down 2.6 percent in the equipment goods sector, and 1.7 percent in the transport material sector, with only the mining, energy and water sector expanding with a 1.9 percent rise.
Over the second quarter as a whole, industrial production was down 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, and up 0.4 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
The following are the main figures given by INSEE (percentage changes). The year-on-year figures compare the last three months with same period a year earlier and three-month figures compare the last three months with preceding three months.
For full details from INSEE: http://www.insee.fr/en/themes/info-rapide.asp?id=10
For a graphic: http://link.reuters.com/huq57s