UK manufacturing unexpectedly falls in October
UK manufacturing posted a surprise fall of 0.7 per cent for October, after rising 0.6 per cent the previous month, according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Economists had been expecting an increase of 0.2 per cent in industrial and manufacturing output for October.
The slump was driven primarily by a 4.5 per cent slip in the manufacturing of computers and electronics. Pharmaceutical and chemical products also help drag it to a five-month low.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight said:
There is no doubt … manufacturers are currently finding life markedly tougher compared to earlier this year.
Weak Eurozone activity is clearly having a limiting impact on foreign demand for UK manufacturing goods while the recent strength of the pound has not helped UK manufacturing exports.
The Eurozone has struggled recently amid a flurry of weak economic data, which has piled pressure on the European Central Bank to start buying government bonds, a policy known as quantitative easing.