BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Euro zone industrial production plunged by a record amount in December, data showed on Thursday, pointing to a deepening recession in the single currency area and adding to arguments for a deep ECB rate cut next month.
Industrial production in the 15 countries using the euro in December fell 2.6 percent month-on-month and 12.0 percent year-on-year, the steepest annual drop since records started in 1990, European Union statistics office Eurostat said.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 2.1 percent monthly drop and an 8.9 percent annual fall.
The output data is in line with a steep drop in investment that helped drag the euro zone into its first-ever recession in the second and third quarters of 2008 and falling consumer confidence as concerns about jobs rise among households.
The European Central Bank, which has cut rates by a total of 225 basis points to 2.0 percent since October, has signalled it may reduce them again in March as the economy sinks deeper into recession while inflation decelerates sharply. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)