Official figures show that industrial production in the euro zone declined sharply in October, ending five months of expanding output.
Industrial production fell by 0.6% in the month, after a rise of 0.2% in September, and fell by 11.1% on an annual basis, according to the EU's Eurostat agency.
Detailed figures compared with a year earlier showed heavy falls across the board. Energy production was down by 6.8% and production of durable consumer goods like fridges and televisions fell by 14.9%. Production of capital goods collapsed by 16.3%.
EU employment down a million in Q3
Separate Eurostat figures showed that more than one million fewer people were classed as working across the EU in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the previous three months.
Total numbers employed across the 27 EU countries fell by 0.5%, or 1.019 million people, according to seasonally-adjusted estimates. In the core 16 countries that use the euro currency, the fall was also 0.5%, which amounted to 712,000 fewer people in work. The rate was slightly less than the decline in the second quarter, which was 0.6% for the 27 EU countries and 0.5% across the euro zone.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment fell by 2% across the EU and 2% throughout the euro zone in the third quarter of 2009. This meant 221.6 million men and women were listed as being in employment, of which 144.8 million were in the euro zone. Jobs were lost in all economic sectors, except the public sector which grew in both the EU and the euro zone.
