Industrial output sank in several European economies in October as the slowing economy and falling sales forced factories to scale back production in the car industry and other hard-hit sectors. Analysts said November and December will be even worse. In France car production plummeted 14.3 percent – the sharpest drop since August 1999 – in Italy it was down 5.8 percent. Compared with the same month last year, overall industrial output in October fell 7.2 percent in France – the largest decline since such records began in 1991. It was down 7.1 percent in Sweden, 6.9 percent in Italy and 4.5 percent in Greece.

On the basis of those figures , economists said they would scale back their already-negative outlooks for gross domestic product in the fourth quarter. They also pointed out that order bookings are very weak, which is not a good sign looking forward. Data released earlier this week showed that industrial output in Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, also fell by more than expected in October.More about: Economy, Financial Crisis, Industry

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