Malaysia's November factory output up 2.5 percent year-on-year, above forecast

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's industrial production index rose 2.5 percent in November from a year earlier, higher than forecast but slower than the previous month, government data showed on Friday.

A Reuters survey had forecast November's annual output growth to ease to 2.2 percent, down from a 4.2 percent rise in October.

The index measures factory output from the manufacturing, electricity generation and mining sectors.

Growth in November was supported by a 3.6 percent increase in the manufacturing index and 3.2 percent rise in the electricity index, data from the Statistics Department showed.

The mining index, however, dipped 0.7 percent, the data showed.

Malaysia's exports in November had grown marginally by 1.6 percent from a year earlier, on a sharp drop in demand from China and a contraction in exports to the U.S. of manufactured goods.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)