MADRID, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Spanish industrial production contracted at a more moderate rate of 12.5 percent in September year-on-year, although output remained depressed, official data showed on Thursday.

The calendar-adjusted fall in activity at factories and mines compared with a revised drop of 12.7 percent in August and forecasts for a 12.6 percent drop in September.

'The figure is better than forecasts and the fall is continuing to be more moderate. But the capital goods data reflects that the industrial sector is still not showing signs of improvement,' said Jose Luis Martinez at Citigroup.

Spain has suffered from a lack of investment in capital goods and a slump in consumer demand since a credit-fuelled boom went bust and its deepest economic slowdown since World War Two gave it the highest unemployment rate in the euro zone.

'The data on capital goods shows companies are still having problems in obtaining financing and that there is very little hope of improvement in the industrial sector,' said Estefania Ponte at BNP Paribas Fortis.

But the calendar-adjusted fall in consumer goods eased to 5.7 percent in September from a revised 8.3 percent in August.

'Consumer goods saw some improvement but not enough to lift growth. The data confirms that Spain's growth is lagging its European peers,' Unicredit's Tullia Bucco said.

Euro zone peers Germany and France present their industrial output data for September on Monday and Tuesday respectively, while data for the 16-nation bloc at large will be released on Thursday. Output there rose 0.9 percent month-on-month in August.

STATE STIMULUS

The Spanish government spent some 15 billion euros ($22.12 billion) in an effort to kick start the economy in the first six months of this year.

The state stimulus plan has had some impact in the first half of the year but the September industrial production data shows that Spain is still far from a recovery, analysts said.

'The fall in September output is more or less in line with the decrease in August. There are no signs of recovery, just that the fall in production has hit bottom. Until investment in capital goods pulls back from current falls of about 16 percent we can't talk about a recovery,' said Nuria Bustamante, economist at Caja Madrid.

(Reporting by Judy MacInnes; editing by Andy Bruce) ($1=.6782 Euro) Keywords: SPAIN OUTPUT/

(judith.macinnes@thomsonreuters.com; 34 91 585 8340; Reuters Messaging: judith.macinnes.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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