British manufacturing output fell for the second month in a row in December, defying expectations of a rise and casting doubt on recovery in the sector.
The Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing output fell 0.1% on the month after a revised 0.6% decline in November, the first back-to-back decrease since October 2002. Analysts had predicted a 0.5% gain. Output was only 0.5% higher than a year earlier.
The data conflict strongly with recent survey evidence suggesting that a recovery in manufacturing is gathering pace.
The Confederation of British Industry declared the seven-year slump in manufacturing over last month and other surveys have also shown a steep rise in orders as the world economy picks up.
The ONS said overall industrial production also fell by 0.1%, against analysts' forecasts of a 0.7% gain, leaving it 0.8% lower than a year earlier.
The fall in manufacturing output in December was driven by the electrical and optical equipment and chemicals industries, the ONS said.
Separately figures from the ONS showed that raw material costs, or input prices, fell by a seasonally adjusted 1% in January. The main factor was lower prices for imported goods thanks to the strength of the pound against the dollar. Producer output prices rose by 0.2% on the month and were 1.6% higher than a year earlier.
