UK industrial production beats expectations in August
Industrial production in Britain grew more than expected in August, data released on Wednesday showed.
According to the Office for National Statistics, industrial output climbed 1% month-on-month in August compared with a 0.4% decline in July and with analysts’ expectations for a 0.3% gain, boosted by a 6.0% gain in the mining and quarrying sector.
On a year-on-year basis, industrial production rose 1.9% compared with a 0.8% hike in July and with consensus expectations for a 1.2% gain, which was again driven higher by a surge in the mining and quarrying sector, which reported a 17.7% year-on-year increase.
However, in the three months to August, industrial production was lower than its pre-crisis peak in 2008.
"Assuming an unchanged level of production in September, the industrial sector will add marginally to GDP growth in the third quarter," said BNP Paribas analyst Dominic Bryant .
"Looking ahead, the manufacturing PMI is consistent with flat-to-modestly-falling manufacturing output, broadly consistent with the sector's long term average performance."