Eurozone industrial output slumps in September

BRUSSELS: Factories and refineries in the 15 nations that use the euro cut output in September in the face of slowing economic activity, according to official EU data on Wednesday.

Industrial output in the eurozone slumped 1.6 percent in September from August and fell 2.4 percent over the same month in 2007, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.

"The latest industrial data confirm that the sector has entered a fairly nasty downturn which has further to run," said analyst Ben May at consultancy Capital Economics.

"With the remainder of the economy in no position to take up the slack, we expect the eurozone to contract by one percent in 2009," he added.

Economist had expected output to fall 1.8 percent over one month and slip 1.3 percent over one year, as polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

The data, adjusted for seasonal variations, marked a slowdown from August when industrial output grew 0.8 percent over one month and fell 0.7 percent over one year.

"While the recent marked retreat in the euro and oil and commodity prices will obviously benefit eurozone manufacturers, it is highly probable that they will continue to find life very difficult over the coming months," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.

The September downturn in industrial output was driven by slumping production of durable consumer goods such as washing machines and intermediate goods, which are used to make other goods and include such things as steel.

Meanwhile, industrial output in the 27-nation EU fell 1.1 percent in over one month in September and fell 2.1 percent over one year.