The global plunge into full-blown recession gathered pace today as Britain was hit by an avalanche of bad economic news and Sony announced 16,000 job cuts around the world.

Official figures showed UK factory output fell off a cliff in October, fuelling fears the downturn will be worse than expected. The crisis facing manufacturers was underlined by a profits warning from Titan Europe, which makes wheels and undercarriages for construction and agricultural vehicles.

Bank of England rate-setter Andrew Sentance tonight said the UK recession was likely to be as long and deep as in the mid-1970s, early 1980s and early 1990s.

"Even if we do see a recovery beginning in the second half of 2009," he warned, "this recession is likely to be comparable in length and depth with the previous three major post-war UK downturns. In each of these earlier episodes, the output of the economy fell by at least 2.5% over a period of a year or more, resulting in a significant rise in unemployment."

Sony added to the gloom with plans to axe 16,000 jobs by April 2010 as the recession hit demand for electrical goods around the world. It created uncertainty for almost 600 at the Sony UK Technology Centre in South Wales, which makes high-definition camcorders.

There were also reports of sharp falls in sales both on the UK High Street and in the housing market as rising unemployment hits consumer confidence.Paul Dales of Capital Economics said: "Today's flurry of data on the UK economy confirms that activity all but fell off a cliff at the start of the fourth quarter. The figures suggest the recession is deepening across the economy."

Official figures showed manufacturing output fell 1.4% from September to October - far worse than the 0.5% the City expected. It has now fallen for eight consecutive months, the worst run since 1980. Overall industrial production (including utilities, mining and oil extraction), fell 1.7% on the month.

The Office for National Statistics said the UK economy shrank 0.6% in the third quarter rather than the 0.5% originally thought. This triggered a rash of downgrades to economic forecasts in the City. Economists said gross domestic product could contract by as much as 1% in the fourth quarter - the sharpest decline since 1990 - and by 2% across the whole of next year.

It piled pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates again in January, having lowered them from 5% to 2% in just three months. Traders are betting on a cut next month of between half a per cent and one per cent.

The job cuts at Sony, run by Welshman Howard Stringer, are split between 8000 permanent jobs, or 5% of its electronics workforce, and 8000 temporary. The company also plans to cut 10% of its manufacturing sites.

Sony blamed "the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment". The cuts came as official figures showed the Japanese economy shrank 1.8% in the third quarter - far faster than government predictions of 0.4%.

Fujitsu Research economist Martin Schulz said that "consumers have gone on strike" in Europe, where falling demand for TVs, computers, digital cameras and other electricals has hit stores such as Currys and Comet.