Spain Industrial Output Drops 15th Month on Recession

Industrial output in Spain dropped for a 15th straight month in November and almost twice as much as economists predicted as the recession in Europe’s fourth largest economy deepens.

Output at factories, refineries and mines adjusted for the number of working days fell 7.2 percent from a year earlier, after declining a revised 3.1 percent in October, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said in an e-mailed statement today. Economists forecast a drop of 4 percent, according to the median of five estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

The Spanish economy is set to shrink for a second year in 2013, with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicting a contraction of 1.4 percent that may propel unemployment to 27 percent. The European Commission is due to reassess Spain’s efforts to tackle the euro region’s second-largest deficit next month.

Schneider Electric SA (SU), the world’s biggest maker of low-and medium-voltage equipment, in October cut its target for 2012 revenue after sales posted a “strong double-digit” decline in Spain and dropped in Western Europe. Amper SA (AMP), the Spanish manufacturer of telecommunications and electronic equipment, said on Nov. 26 it plans to cut 210 jobs in the country.

In unadjusted terms, industrial production fell 7.3 percent in November from a year earlier after a revised 0.9 percent increase in October.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angeline Benoit in Madrid at abenoit4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net