Industrial production in the eurozone slumped again in December, the fourth time that production failed to increase in the past six months. Seasonally adjusted industrial production decreased by 1.5pc in the eurozone in December from November, Eurostat said today. Production had risen by 0.7pc in November, but declined in July and September and failed to move in October. In Ireland, production by industry declined by 5.4pc, according to estimates from the Central Statistics Office, while production in Germany and France, the eurozone's two largest economies, slipped 2.4pc and 1.7pc, respectively.
In fact, across the 15 nations of the EU, production actually rose in just two states, Sweden and Portugal. Production of durable consumer goods fell by 4.4pc in the eurozone, Eurostat said, while production of capital goods decreased by 1.9pc and intermediate goods by 1.5pc//www.fxcentre.com