Euro zone industrial production still shrinking
The eurozone says its industrial production fell for the third straight month in November, the latest signal that the currency bloc remains mired in recession.
The 17-nation eurozone said Monday that industrial output dropped the most in three years in November, down three-tenths of one percent. Analysts had predicted that manufacturing would advance slightly.
From November 2011 to this past November, eurozone industrial production contracted 3.7 percent.
The eurozone economy is already in a recession, shrinking modestly for two quarters in a row, from April through September. With the latest figures on industrial production, experts say the overall eurozone economy likely will record a third straight recessionary quarter in the final months of 2012.
The eurozone economy has struggled to grow as debt-ridden countries on its southern geographic periphery have imposed austerity measures to control spending. In the last few years, the eurozone has bailed out Greece, Ireland and Portugal and now is considering a rescue of one its smallest nations, Cyprus.
Source: VOANews.com
(Photo: Michael and Christa Richert/sxc.hu)
