Argentina's industrial production contracted 4.1 percent in November from the same month a year earlier, national statistics agency Indec said on Wednesday, marking the tenth straight month of shrinking output. The drop was less sharp than the median expectation for a 4.5 percent year-on-year decline in a Reuters poll, and marked the smallest drop compared with the same month the previous year since March. Output has fallen 4.9 percent through the first 11 months of the year, unchanged from the 10-month total.

Argentina's economy remains in recession one year into center-right President Mauricio Macri's term, as inflation eats into consumers' purchasing power and a promised flurry of foreign investments has failed to materialize. Earlier this week, Macri sacked finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay and split the ministry. Economists see Argentina's economy contracting 2.3 percent in 2016 before rebounding to grow 3 percent next year, driven largely by public works spending.

Copyright Reuters, 2016