Output from Britain's manufacturing sector rose for the second month in a row in February, while overall industrial production also edged up. Manufacturing output rose 0.3pc in February from January after gaining 0.2pc the previous month, National Statistics said this morning. Overall production rose 0.7pc it said. Economists had expected manufacturing output to rise by just 0.1pc on the month. However, on a three month basis, there was a decrease of 0.2pc in manufacturing output and a 0.4pc slide in production industries' output.
The UK manufacturing sector has suffered due to weaker demand abroad for British goods. The decline of the dollar against sterling and waning consumer spending due to rising unemployment have also impacted on export demand. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply said this week that the new orders index of its monthly manufacturing survey dropped to its weakest in 18 months in March//www.fxcentre.com