Factories in the 15 nations sharing the euro saw demand slump in October in the face of recession, according to official EU data on Dec. 22.
New industrial orders in the eurozone slid 4.1% in October from September and plunged 15.1% compared with the same month in 2007, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.
The slump followed a drop in new orders in September when they fell 5.4% over one month and 1.9% over one year, according to revised figures from Eurostat.
Although the plunge in October was driven by a 9.4% drop in volatile orders for transport items like trains and airplanes, the weakeness was widespread with machinery and equipment orders down a steep 6.5%.
Meanwhile, in the 27-nation EU, new industrial orders fell 6.3% over one month in October and 17.9% over one year.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
