European manufacturing output contracted for a fifth month in December as the region's leaders struggled to tackle the sovereign-debt crisis.

A manufacturing gauge based on a survey of purchasing managers in the 17-nation euro region rose to 46.9 from 46.4 in November, London-based Markit Economics said today. That's in line with an initial estimate published on Dec. 15. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

"Euro-zone manufacturing is clearly undergoing another recession," Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said in today's report. "Despite the rate of decline easing slightly in December, production appears to have been collapsing across the single-currency area at a quarterly rate of approximately 1.5% in the final quarter of 2011."