"Overall, we remain of the view that UK industrial production and manufacturing remains a cause for concern; we believe this is driven by a structural lack of competitiveness as well as Government policies (including the national living wage as well as the impending apprenticeship levy), only to be amplified by prolonged uncertainty regarding the UK and its trading relationships with the EU and the rest of the world".
- Andrzej Szczepaniak, Barclays
UK manufacturing and industrial production continued to contract in June amid Britain's decision to leave the European Union, official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Tuesday. Manufacturing output dropped 0.3% on an annual seasonally adjusted basis in June, while market analysts expected the indicator to come in at 0.0%. Meanwhile, May's figure was revised down to a 0.6% decline from an originally reported 0.5% fall. On an annual basis, Britain's manufacturing production rose 0.9% in the same month, compared to May's upwardly revised reading of 1.7%. Furthermore, the data showed that overall industrial production grew 0.1% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis in June, following the previous month's downwardly revised drop of 0.6%. Economic desks anticipated a 0.1% fall in the sixth month of the year. Year-over-year, industrial output increased 1.6% in the reported month, compared to May's 1.4% hike.
Other data released by the ONS showed that the country's trade deficit widened more than expected in June. The UK's trade gap rose to $12.4 billion in the reported month, compared to last month's upwardly revised gap of $11.5 billion, while economists expected to see a $9.6 billion deficit in June.
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