(Adds historical comparatives, breakdown by component sectors)
MEXICO CITY, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Mexican industrial production rose in October at its fastest pace in six months, boosted by a pickup in construction and manufacturing that could signal a strengthening recovery for Latin America's No. 2 economy.
Industrial activity rose 0.32 percent in October compared with September, the national statistics agency said on Friday, below expectations for a 0.70 percent rise in a Reuters poll and above an upwardly revised 0.05 percent contraction in September.
Analysts expect Mexico's economy to grow 2.19 percent in 2014 after growth disappointed in the third quarter, according to the most recent central bank poll.
Factory output, a component of industrial output, rose 0.66 percent in October from the prior month. Mexico sends nearly 80 percent of its exports, which are mostly factory goods, to the United States.
The component measuring construction, which contracted sharply last year, rose 0.24 percent compared to September after contracting the prior month.
Industrial output rose 2.1 percent in October from a year earlier, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.68 percent increase, and September's downwardly revised 2.9 percent annual growth rate.
(Reporting By Alexandra Alper Editing by W Simon)