(Bloomberg) --
The euro region's industrial woes persisted at the start of the third quarter as a German factory slump dragged down output more than economists predicted.
Production fell 0.4% in July, deepening a decline from the previous month. The drop was led by Germany, Europe's biggest economy, which is suffering the most in the region as a global slowdown in trade hurts its exporters.
The data provide yet more evidence of a slowdown for European Central Bank policy makers to ponder as they prepare stimulus to be delivered on Thursday in Frankfurt. Economists anticipate an interest-rate cut, and a resumption of quantitative easing.
From a year earlier, output dropped by 2%, similar to the drop in June. The data now show an annual production decline in every month since last November.
--With assistance from Kristian Siedenburg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Stirling in Frankfurt at cstirling1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss
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