The recession-ridden British manufacturing sector shrank again in November, while industrial output as a whole took another beating, according to the latest official figures today.
Manufacturing output, which excludes the oil, water, gas and electricity sectors, fell by 0.7% in November from October, leaving it down by 5.4% from November 2000, the Office for National Statistics said.
Industrial output dropped by 0.3% in November from the previous month and by 4.8% over the year, the figures showed. Analysts had been expecting a 12-month fall of 5% for manufacturing output and 4.5% for industrial production.
The ONS also reported that British wholesale prices, or the cost of goods at the factory gate, held steady in December from November, giving a fall of 1.2% from the year-earlier period. Input prices, or the cost of raw materials to industry, dropped by 0.7% in December from November, giving a 12-month slump of 6.6%.
