French industrial production unexpectedly fell in June dragged down by the oil transformation industry as several refineries in the country were shut down because of a strike, official data showed Wednesday, Nasdaq reported. Industrial production in the eurozone’s second-largest economy contracted 0.8% month-over-month as coking and refining output dropped 12% and production in the food industry fell 2.3%, statistics agency Insee said. The figures were lower than expected, confirming the weak economic growth data for the second quarter released late last month. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.1% increase in industrial production. Insee had said that industrial production had already shrunk 0.5% in May. Similarly, construction output dropped 0.2% versus May’s 0.6% increase. In the second quarter, output decreased slightly in the manufacturing industry by 0.2% sequentially and overall industrial production dropped marginally by 0.1%.
