Malaysia's Nov. factory output surprisingly falls, down 2.2% year-on-year

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's industrial production in November fell for the second consecutive month, declining 2.2% from a year earlier, dragged down by lacklustre mining and electricity output, government data showed on Monday.

The output index, which measures factory output from the manufacturing, mining and electricity generation sectors, had contracted 0.5% in October.

November's decline in the index was below the 0.2% rise forecast by 11 economists in a Reuters poll.

The mining sector index slumped 15.4% on-year while electricity output fell 2.5%, the Statistics Department said in a statement.

Manufacturing output, however, advanced 2% in November.

Malaysia's exports in November had risen 4.3% on-year on higher shipments of manufactured goods and palm oil products.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)