Manufacturing News

UK manufacturing output down again

Latest data from the UK government reveals British manufacturing output fell again in May, reducing the chances that the economy will bounce back fast from the deep recession.

UK manufacturing industries produced 0.5 percent less in May than in April, the Office for National Statistics said in London this week.

Compared to a year earlier, factory output was down 12.7 percent in May. Market expectations had been for an increase of about 0.2 percent compared to April, according to analysts.

Low interest rates and the weak pound are “set to provide ongoing support,” allowing the manufacturing sector to post positive annual growth rates by late next year, he added.

The government said last week that British economy contracted in the first quarter by 2.4 percent from the last three months of 2008 — the most in more than 50 years — as the manufacturing and construction sectors suffered from the most severe downturn since the Great Depression.

April’s output was revised to zero from the 0.2 percent previously reported.

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