German industrial production plummeted by a dramatic 7.5 per cent in January, the Economics and Technology Ministry said Thursday, amid signs the global recession has tightened its grip on Europe's biggest economy, DPA reported. The seasonally adjusted fall in production was far worse than the 3-per-cent drop that analysts had forecast and followed the release of data Wednesday showing January factory orders in the country plunging by a bigger-than-expected 8 per cent. "Particularly badly hit was export-based industrial production," the Berlin ministry said in releasing the latest output figures. Figures released Tuesday showed a massive 20.7-per-cent year-on- year slump in German exports in January with the fall in German factory orders led by a sharp 11.4-per-cent drop in foreign orders. German unemployment rose a fourth straight month in February, the nation's labour office said, as a result pushing up the seasonally adjusted jobless rate up to 7.9 per cent from 7.8 per cent. However, the economics ministry modestly revised up the preliminary estimate for December from a 4.6-per-cent slump to a 3.9- per-cent fall. The publication of the latest key German economic data came in the wake of a raft of new figures highlighting how the world economic downturn had gained momentum as 2009 got underway.
