Factories in the 15 nations sharing the euro saw demand slump in September as the economic outlook deteriorated, according to official EU data released on Nov. 24. New industrial orders in the eurozone slid 3.9% in September from August and fell 1.1% compared with the same month in 2007, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.
The slump followed a drop in new orders in August when they fell 1.5% over one month and 6.4% over one year, according to revised figures from Eurostat.
The September weakness was driven by falling orders for basic metals and fabricated metal products and transport equipment.
Meanwhile, in the 27-nation EU, new industrial orders fell 4.6% over one month in September and 1.1% over one year.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
