* U.S. unemployment rate jumps to 7.2 percent
* Industrial output slides in Britain, France, Spain
* Obama says risk of double-digit unemployment
* Bank of England, South Korea cut rates to record lows
By Angus MacSwan
LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Some 2.6 million Americans lost their jobs in 2008, the worst toll since the end of World War Two, data showed on Friday, and industrial output plunged across Europe as the global economic crisis bit deeper.
The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December and 524,000 people lost their jobs that month, U.S. surveys showed.
"The job situation is ugly and is going to get uglier," said Richard Yamarone, chief economist with Argus Research in New York. "There's no reason to expect hiring any time in the next three to six months. We are not going to see any hiring until the government steps in and acts. Talk doesn't work."
The rate, which jumped from 6.8 percent in November, was the highest level since January 1993. Companies are cutting jobs across the world because of the stranglehold on consumer and corporate funding since a credit boom went bust a year and a half ago.
The U.S. job losses were however less than analysts had expected and the data initially boosted stocks and knocked back the dollar.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a positive opening on Wall Street. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.6 percent.
Germany, Britain, France, Spain and Sweden meanwhile all reported slumping industrial output on Friday, some of them posting the worst figures in many years.
Germany reported its biggest annual fall since 1993, dragged down by a downturn among manufacturers that is threatening to cause the worst recession in the country's post-war history.
Preliminary Economy Ministry figures showed output fell by 10 percent year-on-year as demand for cars and other capital goods faded across the globe.
"We're at the start of a really deep recession," said Juergen Michels, an economist at Citigroup in London.
British manufacturing output slumped much more than expected in November, official data showed. Output fell 7.4 percent year-on-year while the broader measure of industrial production fell 6.9 percent, both the weakest since 1981.
The figures are likely to reinforce expectations that interest rates -- slashed to a historic low of 1.5 percent by the Bank of England on Thursday -- will fall to near zero in the coming months.
France's industrial output also continued its downward spiral in November, sliding a larger-than-expected 2.4 percent month on month on the back of further woes in the car industry.
"This is catastrophic, but sadly it reflects the reality of French industry," said Marc Touati, head of Global Equities in Paris.
The automobile industry has borne the brunt of the economic storm in France, with output dropping 8.1 percent in November after a dramatic 22.2 percent decline in October.
Underscoring the problems faced by the sector, French carmaker Renault on Friday posted a 4.2 percent drop in 2008 sales and said "inventory management and reduction" would remain a priority throughout 2009.
The picture was worse in neighbouring Spain, with industrial output down a record 15.1 percent year on year in November and analysts said the pressure was building on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates again.
"The data is much worse that what the ECB was predicting as recently as four weeks ago," said Jacques Cailloux, an economist with Royal Bank of Scotland.
CAR MAKERS STRUGGLE
Along with trillions of dollars in government stimulus packages, central banks are cutting interest rates to unprecedented levels in an effort to kickstart growth and stem the rising tide of job losses.
The Bank of England cut on Thursday took the rate to its lowest level since the central bank was created in the 17th century. The Korean cut reflected the plunge in export demand and domestic consumption.
Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea's top automaker, said on Friday it plans to cut production at its domestic plants by 25-30 percent to offset a slump in demand.
Smaller local rival Ssangyong Motor Co said it was seeking court bankruptcy protection as the financial crisis further pounded the worldwide car makers.
Business confidence in China -- a star performer in the boom that preceded the crisis -- plunged in the final three months of 2008, an official survey showed. Manufacturers were hurt by shrivelling U.S. and European demand and a weakening domestic property sector.
Japan's index of coincident economic indicators fell 2.8 points to a preliminary 94.9 in November from 97.7 in October, government data showed, signalling that the world's second-largest economy faces a deep recession.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action.
"I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible," Obama said in a speech in Fairfax, Virginia on Thursday. "If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years."
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)