BRUSSELS, May 14 (UPI) -- Industrial production fell 0.4 percent in Europe in March compared to February, the EU statistical office Eurostat reported Monday.
Production fell 0.3 percent in the 17-member eurozone and 0.4 percent in the 27-member European Union, the data branch of the European Commission said.
Further gains were expected. Economists had predicted a rise of 0.4 percent.
Production was down 2.2 percent in the eurozone and down 1.9 percent in the EU compared to March 2011.
Production of energy dropped 8.5 percent in the eurozone and 6.8 percent in the EU on an annual basis. Durable goods production fell 6.7 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, while non-durable goods production fell 3.8 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, in the eurozone and the larger EU.
Among EU member states with data available, production fell in 15 states and rose in eight. The largest decline was in Luxembourg with production off 11.3 percent on an annual basis. This was followed by Greece (down 8.5 percent), Spain (down 7.5 percent) and Estonia and Finland (both off 6.1 percent).
Production rose the most in Slovakia (up 12.1 percent), Latvia (up 8.5 percent) and Lithuania (up 5.9 percent).
