British manufacturing output falls unexpectedly in May

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed a fall in British manufacturing output.

According to the ONS, manufacturing output fell 0.5% in May compared with April. Analysts had forecast a fall of 0.2%.

Meanwhile, on an annualised basis, output in May was down 12.7%, while market expectations had been for an annual drop of 11.8%.

The weak industrial output data has led the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) to revise its GDP figures for the UK economy.

The influential think tank has forecasted that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.4% in the three months to June - the fifth consecutive quarter of decline.

At the end of last month, the NIESR said the UK economy grew in May by 0.1% and follows a similar rise in the previous month and was the first growth in a year.

Earlier today, the British Chambers of Commerce, the leading business group, voiced its concern about a recovery in the UK.

While the group believes that the worst of the UK’s recession is over, it said talk of a recovery is “premature

Today’s worse-than-expected figures are likely to lead the Bank of England to expand its quantitative easing programme in a bid to drag the UK out of recession.

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