British industrial output rose twice as fast as expected in February, recovering from snow-related disruption in January to post its biggest monthly rise since September, official data showed today.
Industrial production rose 1% on the month after a 0.5% fall in January, boosted by electrical and optical equipment, cement and brick production as well as food and drink, the Office for National Statistics said.
The narrower measure of manufacturing output, which excludes energy production, jumped 1.3% on the month after a 1% decline in January - also the biggest monthly rebound since last September.
Britain suffered its harshest winter in 30 years in January when heavy snow made roads impassable and many schools and businesses were forced to close. The ONS said the fall in production that month was slightly bigger than it originally estimated.
Today's figures support the view that the economy's poor start to the year was mainly due to the weather rather than heralding a new downturn after Britain's deepest recession since World War Two.
The Bank of England has warned that data in the first few months of this year will be volatile and economists do not expect any change to policy when the central bank announces its monthly interest rate decision later today. The bank slashed rates to a record low of 0.5% in March 2009 and is not forecast to raise them until the fourth quarter of this year at the earliest.
The ONS figures confirm an improving trend for manufacturing since the depth of the recession in early 2009. Factory output was 1.3% higher in February than a year ago, its best showing since February 2008.
Industrial output was 0.1% lower on the year, still suffering a downward pull from weakness in oil and gas extraction, which fell 8.9%. However, this was still the smallest fall in industrial production since April 2008.
