"It is increasingly hard not to come to the conclusion that the U.K. manufacturing sector is becoming overwhelmed by the recessionary gales blowing across the Channel"
- David Tinsley, U.K. economist at BNP Paribas
U.K. manufacturing production contracted by more than expected in April, said the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday. Factory output declined 0.7 per cent from March, a sign the economy has weakened at the beginning of the second quarter.
"The underlying picture is very worrying," said Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank in London.
"We're starting to see tangible spillover effects from the euro-zone crisis. Risk aversion is stopping investors from investing, companies from hiring and consumers from spending."
"It is increasingly hard not to come to the conclusion that the U.K. manufacturing sector is becoming overwhelmed by the recessionary gales blowing across the Channel," said David Tinsley, U.K. economist at BNP Paribas.
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