UK Manufacturing at its Best Rate for Over 15 Years

UK manufacturing shot up in May this year, rising up to its highest rate in almost 16 years.  December 1994 was the last time manufacturing rates have been so high according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

A 4.3% rise on the same month last year has said to have been driven by the machinery and equipment industries as well as a strong rise also being seen in basic metals and metal products.  The results are showing that manufacturing is growing this year as a whole, as just 0.3% rise was seen compared to April.

"The new figures leave manufacturing firmly in positive territory when compared with a year ago, and they reinforce expectations that GDP will record stronger growth in the second quarter of 2010," commented David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.

"But, there is no room for complacency and the level of manufacturing output is still some 10% below that recorded in 2007."

The ONS's wider index of production also rose by 2.6% on the year, the fastest pace since June 2000.

Industrial production in May was back to a similar lever as March after a 0.7% rise on April countered a contraction of similar amount from March to April.

Brian Hilliard, chief UK economist at Societe Generale, said the data was "in line with expectations, but a significant downward revision to the April numbers, so quite lumpy".

"But I think the upward trend in output should remain in place," he said.

"It's a little bit disturbing to see that downward revision, especially when we had a lot of volatility in recent months, but the upward output trend remains in place."

Posted at 11:32AM Jul 09, 2010 by Marc Stenton in The Economy  |  Comments[0]