"These figures mark a very positive start to the third quarter for the manufacturing sector"
- Nida Ali, an economist at Ernst & Young's ITEM Club
British industrial output soared at its fastest pace for 25 years in July, official data showed on Friday. In a report, National Statistics said that industrial output rose by 2.9%, after dropping by 2.4% in the previous month. Moreover, manufacturing output rose by 3.2%, the fastest pace for 10 years, after falling by 2.9% in June. Despite strong rise in July, industrial output erased 0.8% from a year earlier.
"It looks like the bounceback is going to be a bit stronger, and you can be much more confident that there will be positive growth in the third quarter," said Ross Walker, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
"It's still a fairly fragile recovery. The Bank of England may still deliver more quantitative easing."
"These figures mark a very positive start to the third quarter for the manufacturing sector," said Nida Ali, an economist at Ernst & Young's ITEM Club.
The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.30 per cent to 5,794.80. The broader FTSE All-Share Index increased by 0.43 per cent to 3,023.99.
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