2018.04.1121:50:00UTC+00UK Manufacturing Output Drops in February

The UK manufacturing sector's near year-long growth came to an end in February as it suddenly contracted, leading economists to downgrade their expectations of expansion in the first quarter of 2018.

Output from the sector declined 0.2 percent compared with January, the first fall in production since March 2017. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent growth in industrial and manufacturing output in February.

Output from manufacturing increased by 2.5 percent year-on-year. Economists had expected it to be 3.3 percent higher.

Overall industrial output, which also includes energy production, edged up 0.1 percent in February, following a 1.3 percent growth the previous month. However, construction output fell 1.6 percent in February, on top of January's 3.1 percent decline.

According to the ONS, February's bad weather could have pulled down the figures, but the effect was "difficult to quantify". The poor weather also led the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, an influential think-tank, to forecast that growth slowed to 0.2 percent in the first quarter.

UK manufacturing was supported in 2017 by a combination of a cheaper pound and stronger global growth. However, there are signs the global rebound in manufacturing could be losing pace. The UK report follows equivalent data from France, Germany and Italy that have pointed to a similar slowdown in manufacturing in the first few months of 2018.