UK Manufacturing Drops in May

UK manufacturing suffered an unexpected drop in output in May, dampening hopes the economic recovery has gathered pace.

Interrupting a recent string of upbeat indicators on the UK economy, official figures showed manufacturing output dropped 0.8% in May, rather than rising 0.2% as economists had forecast. On a year ago, output dropped almost twice as fast as forecast, by 2.9%. Those were the biggest monthly and yearly declines since January when companies were contending with an unusually harsh winter.

The wider industrial sector, which also includes energy and mining and makes up some 15% of the economy, was flat in May, the Office for National Statistics said. Again, that undershot forecasts, which had been for modest growth of 0.2% on the month.

via The Guardian

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