- IHS Global Insight
British industrial production unexpectedly dropped in February, suggesting that the sector may drag on growth for a second straight quarter. According to the Office for National Statistics, industrial output declined 0.3% in February from January, when it climbed 0.2%. Output was predicted to climb 0.1%. Based on the current data, output would need to soar 3.1% in March just to come in flat for the three months through March. Manufacturing production also fell in February, dropping 1.1%. It was down 1.8% from a year earlier. The biggest drag came from the manufacture of transport equipment, which declined 2.9%. Weak trade and manufacturing numbers in recent years have raised concerns about the U.K.'s imbalanced economy.
Britain's economy lost steam in the first three months of the year. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said its estimates of GDP suggested that the UK's economic output increased by 0.3% in the first three months of the year, the weakest rate of growth for the UK economy since the final quarter of 2012. Meanwhile, the EEF, an association of British manufacturing employers, lowered its 2016 UK GDP forecast to 1.9% from 2.1% and scaled back its manufacturing growth expectations to 0.6% from 0.8% for the year.
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