British manufactured output made surprise gains in February, the second month in a row during which the figure has outstripped expectations.
Manufactured output rose by 0.3% on a seasonally-adjusted basis in February from the previous month, the National Statistics office said today. Consensus economist forecasts had been for a fall of around 0.2% for the month.
The 0.3% rise was identical to that seen in January, when it had been expected that the figure would stay unchanged.
Against data for the same month in 2002, manufactured output for February fell by 0.6%, again better than the consensus forecast of a 1% year-on-year drop.
Total industrial output, which also includes the mining and the oil, water, gas and electricity sectors, rose 0.7% in February from the previous month, the biggest increase since July 2002. Economists had forecast the figure would fall by 0.2%.
Year-on-year, industrial output was up 0.1% in February, against expectations of a 0.7% decline. The rise was the first since March 2001.
Much of the rises were prompted by significant increases in the production of electrical and optical equipment, as well as some metals products, the statistics showed.
