April 23 (Bloomberg) -- European industrial orders fell the most in at least 13 years in February as the worldwide economic slump lowered demand for factory equipment and metals. Industrial orders in the euro area declined 34.5 percent from the year-earlier month, after a revised 34.3 percent drop in January, the European Unionâs statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The February drop is the seventh straight decline and the largest since the data series began in 1996. Economists forecast a 34.8 percent decline, according to the median of nine estimates in a Bloomberg survey. From the prior month, February orders fell 0.6 percent. The International Monetary Fund yesterday forecast the euro-region economy will contract 4.2 percent this year as the global recession will be deeper and the recovery slower than previously thought. As financial markets take longer to stabilize, that is increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to outline more unconventional tools to revive economic growth. âEurope is basically waiting for the global economyâ to pick up, said Nick Kounis, chief European economist at Fortis Bank Nederland in Amsterdam. âWeâll still see negative numbers for industrial orders in the coming months but increasingly less negative.â http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLc.vr5QdTGk&refer=home Outsch.Outsch.Outsch. Wake up, Trichet !