Abstract: August 22, 2008 -- European factory orders dropped sharply in June, the European Statistics Office Eurostat said Friday, adding to signs of slowing economic growth.

August 22, 2008 -- European factory orders dropped sharply in June, the European Statistics Office Eurostat said Friday, adding to signs of slowing economic growth. Year-on-year, new industrial orders fell by 7.4 per cent in the 15-member eurozone in June. Analysts had forecast a 6.1-per-cent fall. While industrial orders in 15-member eurozone dropped month on month by 0.3 per cent in June, factory orders in the broader 27-member European Union eased by 0.1 per cent compared to May. Year on year orders fell by 6.6 per cent in the EU. Europe's biggest economies clocked up the largest falls with industrial orders in France dropping by 16.9 per cent, 6.5 per cent in Spain and 6 per cent in Germany.

Abstracted from Deutsche Presse-Agentur