Eurozone factory output slumps record 3.5 % in January

Factories and refineries in the 16 countries using the euro ratcheted down production at the fastest pace on record in January, official EU data showed yesterday.

Industrial output in the recession-hit eurozone slumped 3.5 per cent in January from December and dropped 17.3 per cent over 12 months, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said. Economists had forecast that production would fall four per cent over one month and 15.5 per cent over one year, as polled by Dow Jones Newswires.