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German Nov output down, Finmin advises caution

BERLIN: German industrial output fell by 0.5 percent in November from October according to data on Wednesday but the Finance Ministry warned the numbers should be treated with caution and were likely to be revised up later.

The ministry said that the most recent figures, which were seasonally adjusted and provisional, had been heavily distorted by quarterly changes in the samples on which they were based. "For the third quarter, the preliminary manufacturing output index was revised upwards by two percentage points on average. A similar adjustment has yet to be made for the ensuing months," the ministry said in a statement accompanying the data.

"Developments to date in new manufacturing industry orders speak in favour of that. Great caution is called for in making an economic assessment of the latest figures."

Analysts polled earlier by Reuters had expected a rise in industrial output in November of 1.0 percent.

Traders on European foreign exchange markets said there were rumours the output figures had leaked out before their official publication. The Finance Ministry had no immediate comment.-Reuters