(BRUSSELS) - Factories in the 15 nations sharing the euro saw demand fall more than expected in March, official EU data showed on Thursday.

New industrial orders in the eurozone fell by 1.0 percent in March from February and slumped 2.5 percent over the same month in 2007, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.

The result exceeded economists' forecasts for orders to ease 0.2 percent over one month and increase 7.8 percent from February 2007.

The figures marked a sharp pull-back from February when new industrial orders had risen 0.2 percent over one month and 9.9 percent over one year, according to Eurostat's data.

The March weakness was driven by slumping orders for textiles, textile products, basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and other equipment.

Meanwhile, in the 27-nation EU new industrial orders fell 0.7 percent over one month in March and 1.3 percent over one year.

Further details - Eurostat

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.