Factories and refineries in the euro zone ratcheted down production at the fastest rate on record in November in the face of recession, according to official EU data today.
Euro zone industrial output fell 1.6% in November from October, bringing the slump over one year to 7.7% - the biggest drop since records began in 1990, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.
Analysts said that November's dreadful euro zone industrial production figures confirm that the economic downturn in the region rapidly gained momentum in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Economists had forecast that industrial production fell 2.1% over one month in November and 6.7% over one year. The drop, which was adjusted for seasonal variations, came after industrial output fell 1.6% in October over one month and 5.7% over one year, Eurostat said.
The slump was driven by a sharp fall in intermediate goods such as partly finished products and raw materials and durable consumer goods such as televisions.
The euro zone, whose ranks swelled to 16 members on January 1 when Slovakia adopted the euro, entered a recession in the third quarter of last year and many economists estimate that the bloc's economy has slumped further since then.
Analysts said the drop in industrial output added pressure on the European Central Bank to deliver sharp cuts in interest rates at its next monetary policy setting meeting tomorrow and in the months ahead.
