--UK Mar industry output down 0.2% on mo, down 0.1% on yr
--UK Mar manufacturing output dn 0.3% on mo, up 0.4% on yr
--UK Mar manufacturing output below expectations
--UK Feb industry output rev dn at -0.4% on mo, dn at +0.8% on yr
--UK Feb mfg output rev dn at unch on mo, rev dn at +1.4% on yr
--UK Jan-Mar industry output -0.7% vs Oct-Dec; +0.6% on yr
--UK Jan-Mar manufacturing output -0.7% vs Oct-Dec; +1.1% on yr
--UK Mar mining, quarrying output +1.0% on mo, -8.7% on yr
--UK Mar utilities output -1.2% on mo, +4.3% on yr
--ONS: UK mfg yrly trend estimate now -0.5% vs prev +0.5%
--ONS: UK industry yrly trend estimate now -2.0% vs prev -1.0%
--ONS: Big falls in UK electrical, optical, textiles, chemicals

London, May 10 (BridgeNews) - The U.K. manufacturing sector took another turn for the worse in March, extinguishing any hope it might be able to withstand the global economic slowdown. National Statistics said manufacturing output fell 0.3% on the month and rose 0.4% on the year, compared with flat monthly output in February and forecasts for a fall of a more modest 0.1%.
Total industrial output fell 0.2% on the month and fell 0.1% on the year, compared with a 0.4% monthly fall in February and forecasts for a rise of 0.1%.
* * * The weakness in the manufacturing sector was fairly broad-based, with significant falls in the electrical and optical, textiles and clothing, and chemicals sectors. Mobile phone production, which had plummeted at the start of the year, staged a decent recovery in March but remains below levels achieved at the end of 2000.
The dismal state of affairs in the manufacturing sector as a whole was reflected in a sharp reduction in National Statistic's estimate of the trend rate of growth. It was revised down to an annual rate of negative 0.5% from positive 0.5% last month. The trend estimate for industrial production as a whole was negative 2.0%, down from negative 1.0% last month.
The quarterly growth rates for both manufacturing and industrial output also confirmed the gloomy picture. Manufacturing output in the three months to the end of March fell 0.7% on the previous quarter, the steepest fall since the three months to the end of February 1999. The quarterly rate of industrial output also fell 0.7% in March, the same rate as in February.
In addition to the weakness of manufacturing production, total industrial output in March was depressed by a 1.2% monthly fall in utilities output.
National Statistics said that reflected unplanned maintenance at some power stations.
The overall tone of the report will underscore expectations of an interest rate cut this month. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will announce the outcome of its meeting at 1200 BST on Thursday.