BRUSSELS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial new orders surged more than three times as much as expected in November against October, buoyed mainly by demand for intermediate and non-durable consumer goods, data showed on Friday.
Orders in the 16-country area rose 1.6 percent from October and were 1.5 percent lower than a year earlier, the European Union's statistics office said.
Economists polled by Reuters had on average expected a 0.5 percent month-on-month increase and a fall of 6.2 percent year-on-year.
Eurostat also revised upwards its October orders data to show slightly smaller declines than previously reported.
Industrial new orders point to trends in economic activity as they translate into production over the coming months.
Excluding highly volatile demand for ships, planes and trains, orders jumped 1.5 percent on the month and were 1.8 percent lower than in November 2008. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)