"It doesn't feel right - the 1% fall in manufacturing"
- Ross Walker, economist at RBS
U.K. manufacturing output fell by the most for 10 months in February, said the Office for National Statistics on Thursday. Factory output plunged 1 per cent from January, casting doubt on the nation's economic recovery.
"It doesn't feel right - the 1% fall in manufacturing. It looks anomalous, it doesn't really go with the big grain of the surveys," said Ross Walker, economist at RBS.
Total industrial production figure "still supports our assessment that there will be a small increase in GDP in the first quarter of the year," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.
"The U.K. recovery is not to be taken for granted," said Blerina Uruci, an economist at Barclays in London. "We maintain our view that the economy will remain fragile during the first half of the year before gaining strength during the second half."
© Dukascopy Bank