Manufacturing production in Norway was reported to have decreased at a monthly rate of 1.6% in October, following a 0.8% drop in September, data by Statistics Norway showed.

October has been the third straight month of contracting manufacturing activity, while the pace has been the steepest since April.

In October, production dropped for:

– paper & paper products (-4.5% after a 3.6% surge in September);
– refined petroleum, chemicals & pharmaceuticals (-4.2% after a 0.3% increase in September);
– machinery & equipment (-2.6% after a 0.7% growth in September).

In the meantime, production rebounded for:

– transport equipment (1.6% after an 8.3% drop in September);
– basic chemicals (5.1% after a 2.8% drop in September);
– ships, boats & oil platforms (3.5% after a 2.5% decrease in September).

In annual terms, Norway’s manufacturing output grew 0.3% in October.

The EUR/NOK currency pair settled 0.78% higher at 11.7706 on Friday. It has been the highest closing level for the pair since November 6th.

For the week, the exotic currency pair went up 1.03%.