UK manufacturing output fell unexpectedly in July, while broader industrial production rose modestly on the back of a jump in oil and gas extraction, official figures show.
Meanwhile, UK gross domestic product in the May to July period was up by 0.6 per cent on the preceding three months, according to separate figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics.
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY ITEM Club think-tank, noted this was the best three-month-on-three-month rise in GDP since August 2017.
However, he said: “The growth rate of 0.6% in the three months to July, compared to the three months to April, benefits from the weather-related softness of the economy in late February and March.”
The UK was hit by freezing temperatures and heavy snow in late February and early March as it was hit by a weather system dubbed the Beast from the East.
Mr Archer said: “We had expected GDP growth to be stable at 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter but the July data means there is a very real chance it could improve to 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter.”
The UK grew by 0.4% in the second quarter, having expanded by only 0.2% during the opening three months of this year.
Mr Archer noted the retail sector had been boosted in July by warm weather and the football World Cup. However, he described the drop in manufacturing output in July as “disappointing”.
The ONS said UK manufacturing output fell by 0.2% month-on-month in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. Economists had, overall, expected a 0.2% rise.
Broader industrial production, which includes mining and quarrying, oil and gas extraction and
electricity, gas and water supply as well as manufacturing output, rose by 0.1% month-on-month during July.
This rise was slightly adrift of economists’ expectations of a 0.2% increase.
The modest rise in industrial production was enabled by a 5% month-on-month jump in oil and gas extraction.
The ONS cited “a return to production, following planned maintenance during June 2018” at some oil and gas operations.
Comparing the May to July period with the preceding three months, UK manufacturing output was down by 0.1% and broader industrial production fell 0.5%.
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