Eurozone industrial production plunged by more than expected in May, depressed mostly by a steep fall in energy output, the European Union statistics office said on Wednesday, suggesting the bloc's economy lost steam after strong output data in April. Eurostat said industrial production in the 19-member single currency bloc in May dropped 1.2 percent on a monthly basis, and rose 0.5 percent year-on-year.
Both figures are below the average forecast in a Reuters poll of economists who predicted a 0.8 percent fall month on month and a 1.4 percent rise of output on a yearly basis. The fall in May nearly erased the increase in output recorded in April when production increased 1.4 percent monthly and 2.2 percent year-on-year. Both April figures were revised upward from previous estimates of a monthly rise of 1.1 percent and a yearly increase of 2.0 percent.