Euro-zone industrial production rose at its fastest pace in more than a year in November, Eurostat said yesterday, but it warned the data were distorted and economists said the surge would probably not be sustained.

Industrial output rose 1.0 per cent from the previous month, its biggest rise since August 2001 and 10 times the rise expected by economists. Compared to a year earlier, production leapt 3 per cent - the largest gain since March 2001. But the data came with a health warning as a Eurostat official said the rises were flattered by statistical effects.

"The year-on-year rise is due to the fact that industrial production was going down strongly a year ago," the official said.

"For the monthly increase, it is possible that the November data are a bit too positive because there was a holiday in November and some countries may be overestimating the impact of this holiday."

Analysts had expected a strong rise in euro-zone production given recent national data. They were nevertheless caught off-guard by the size of the jump and inclined to take the euro-zone data with a pinch of salt. - (Reuters)