— Jagjit Chadha, NIESR
British manufacturing and industrial production rose less than expected in April but broke, following three consecutive months of declines. The Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that manufacturing production climbed 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, falling behind expectations for a 0.8% rebound and following the preceding month's drop of 0.6%. On a yearly basis, manufacturing production remained unchanged in the reported month, after climbing 2.2% in March. Friday's report also showed that industrial production in Britain advanced 0.2% month-over-month in April, compared to the previous month's fall of 0.5%, although analysts anticipated an increase of 0.7%. On an annual basis, industrial production declined 0.8% during the reported month, following the preceding month's climb of 1.4%. Other report released by the ONS on Friday showed that the country's goods trade gap narrowed to £10.4B in April, whereas the prior month's trade deficit of £13.4B was revised down to £12.0B. The narrowing of the gap was driven mainly by lower imports that dropped more than 5% in April.
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