Industrial output across the 17 euro zone states fell in November for the third month in a row, official figures show today.
The figures are a further sign that the region will likely remain stuck in recession for the fourth quarter of 2012.
The 0.3% monthly decline reported by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, was worse than expected.
The market consensus was that output would increase a modest 0.1% during the month.
Even though the rate of decline had eased following the 2.3% and 1% drops reported in September and October, respectively, the figures are likely to cement market expectations that the recession in the euro zone has deepened.
Year-on-year, industrial production in the euro zone was down by 3.7%.
The prevailing view is that the euro zone economy shrank further in the fourth quarter of 2012, with most economists predicting a bigger decline than the 0.1% drop recorded for the third quarter.
A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Industrial output is particularly important in the euro zone, not least in Germany, Europe's largest economy, where output rose by a monthly rate of 0.1%.
Though the increase in Germany was a turnaround from big falls in the previous two months, it is clear that the country's high-value exporters, such as its major car manufacturers, are struggling in a tough European marketplace.
Many countries, such as Greece, Italy and Spain, are in recession as their governments enact tough austerity measures, such as cuts to spending, to get their public finances back into shape.
The recent weakness in German industrial production has also raised concerns that Germany will suffer at least one quarter of negative economic output.
The difficult European conditions were evident in sales figures earlier from Volkswagen. The car giant reported a 6.5% drop in sales in western Europe, excluding Germany, to 1.85 million vehicles. German sales fared moderately better, rising 1.9% to 1.18 million vehicles.
The hope for Europe's manufacturers going into 2013 is that the recent improvement in financial markets, not least in the dramatic falls seen in the borrowing rates of some of the euro's more embattled members, will continue and help reduce uncertainty.
