Amid a general slowdown in industrial output, especially manufacturing (which we discussed last week), Russia’s federal statistics agency Rosstat unexpectedly reported a sharp rise in production and manufacturing, including military-related industries, in October. A slight increase in corporate lending does not seem to explain the surge. According to Rosstat, industrial production was 10.7% higher in October than in September and 3.1% higher than a year earlier. Despite some growth in mineral extraction, the most significant increases were in the manufacturing sector, where annual growth was 4.5%, the highest level since January. The driver was military-related production. The biggest rise by category was recorded…