- NIESR
UK manufacturing production dropped unexpectedly in April, while industrial output beat economists' expectations. According to the Office for National Statistics, manufacturing production fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in the reported month, against the consensus forecasts for a 0.1% increase, and following 0.4% gain in March. Measured on an annualized basis, manufacturing output climbed at rate of 0.2%, missing estimates for a gain of 0.4%, after surging at a rate of 1.2% in March. Meanwhile, total industrial production climbed 0.4% from March, overshooting economists' expectations for a 0.1% gain. Oil and gas extraction jumped 8.7%, the biggest increase in more than a year.
At the same time, the latest report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested that the UK economy gained momentum in the three months through May. The NIESR estimate showed the British economy grew 0.6% in the quarter to May, following the upwardly revised 0.5% growth in the three months to April. NIESR expected the Bank of England to hike interest rates in the first quarter of 2016. In its latest quarterly estimate published earlier in May, NIESR forecast annual economic output growth of 2.5% in 2015 and 2.4% in 2016.
© Dukascopy Bank SA