Here:
UK industry fell back into recession
as it shrank for the second quarter in a row, according to the Office for
National Statistics (ONS).
It is the third time UK industry has
been in recession in eight years.
Although industrial production rose
0.3% from February to March, it fell 0.4% both in the first three months of
2016 and in the last three of 2015.
Compared with a year ago,
manufacturing production in the first quarter fell 1.9%, the biggest fall since
2013.
The biggest fall in output came from
the basic iron and steel sector which saw production drop in March by 37.3%
percent compared with a year earlier.
However, the oil and gas industries
saw sharp gains, increasing production 17% in February, and 10.9% in March from
the same months a year earlier.
Manufacturing and construction is
proving to be a drag on the whole economy, helping slow UK economic growth from
0.6% in the last three months of 2015 to 0.4% between January and March,
according to the ONS.
Weaker growth
Earlier this month a survey by
Markit/CIPS also showed manufacturing contracting.
Chris Williamson, chief
economist at Markit said: "The goods-producing sector therefore looks to
be on course to act as a drag on the economy again in the second quarter,
contributing to a slowing in economic growth to near-stagnation.
"Growth could be even weaker if
the surveys disappoint in coming month, which seems probable given the
intensifying uncertainty over the outcome of the EU referendum."
Despite this, economist Ruth Miller
from Capital Economics is optimistic for the rest of the year.
She said: "We still expect
things to look up as the year progresses.
"Sterling's recent depreciation and
our expectations that global growth will pick up slightly in 2016 should allow
the sector to return to modest growth later this year."
No comments:
Post a Comment