NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- The financial crisis in Europe put a significant drag on global manufacturing in 2011, a U.N. report released Thursday said.
Gains in manufacturing production slowed to 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the same period of 2010. That was the slowest quarterly gain for 2011 compared with the same period of the previous year, the report said.
Overall, manufacturing output grew by 9.2 percent in developing nations in the fourth quarter, although in Japan, hit by a massive earthquake in March 2011, manufacturing slowed in the fourth quarter.
In China, manufacturing grew 13.1 percent in the quarter, the report said.
In the United States it grew 4.3 percent in the quarter compared to 12 months prior.
In Europe, however, the financial crisis took a toll. Manufacturing in the quarter, compared to the same quarter a year earlier, fell in Britain, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. It grew less than 1 percent in Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Germany, with Europe's largest economy, posted growth of 3.7 percent, while Belgian posted 4.6 percent growth. In France, with the second largest economy on the continent, manufacturing grew 2.1 percent.
Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic fared better with manufacturing growth year-to-year in the fourth quarter up 9.6 percent, 6.5 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, the report said.
