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Manufacturing witnesses surprise decline in April

A fall in manufacturing output in April came a surprise to the industry, official figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown.

Output fell 0.7% in April from the previous month, following a 0.9% rise in Match.

The figure was worse than expected, as analysts anticipated that the figures would be unchanged from March. Manufacturing output in April, which also includes energy production and mining was also down 0.3% in comparison with the same month in 2011.

Philip Shaw, an analyst at asset management group Investec, said: “The manufacturing figures are very disappointing and highlight the pressure the sector’s under given the gravity of the debt crisis in the euro area, but also the lack of confidence at home.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .