BRUSSELS, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Industrial production dropped sharply in the eurozone and European Union in June, the EU statistical office Eurostat reported Friday.
Production fell by 0.7 percent in the 17 nations that use the euro as currency and 1.2 percent in the 27-member European Union.
Economists had expected industrial production to rise about 1 percent.
Compared with February 2010, production rose 7.3 percent in the eurozone and 7 percent in the EU.
Energy production fell 0.4 percent in the eurozone and rose 0.8 percent in the EU month-to-month. Durable goods manufacturing declined 2.5 percent in the eurozone and fell 2.2 percent in the EU month-to-month.
Non-durable goods production of consumer goods fell 0.5 percent in the eurozone and 0.8 percent in the EU.
Among EU member states with data available, production rose highest in Latvia and Lithuania, up 4.1 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. Production fell steepest in Denmark, down 5.8 percent, and Portugal, where production fell 3.5 percent.
In the larger European economies, total production fell 0.8 percent in Germany and 1.7 percent in France.
