UK industrial output drops at start of year
Britain's industrial output recoiled in January as the nation prepared to exit the European Union, official data showed Friday.
Industrial output slid 0.4 percent compared with activity in December, with a particularly weak contribution from manufacturing, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
Although moderately better than expectations for a 0.5-percent decline, the latest industrial output data followed a 0.9-percent rise in December.
Manufacturing output, which excludes mining and quarrying, electricity, gas and water supply, slid 0.9 percent in January from December.
Construction activity also shrank by 0.4 percent, which contrasted with a 1.8-percent expansion in the previous month.
The ONS also said that Britain's deficit in goods and services, the gap between exports and imports, stood unchanged at £2.0 billion ($2.4 billion, 2.3 billion euros) in January.
"The latest economic data for the UK has come in on the soft side, with manufacturing production and industrial production both contracting in January," noted analyst David Cheetham at XTB brokerage.
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