British industrial output fell unexpectedly in June after an earlier than usual start to seasonal oil field maintenance work, but the fall does not alter the strong economic growth recorded between April and June.
The Office for National Statistics said industrial output fell 0.5% in June, confounding forecasts for a 0.2% rise, after oil and gas output fell 6% on the month, its biggest fall in just under a year.
Manufacturing output rose 0.3% on the month, also below expectations for a 0.4% rise.
The ONS said the decline in oil and gas extraction was due to maintenance work being carried out in June, rather than in August when work on oil fields is normally done.
But today's data would not lead to any revision of the second quarter GDP figures, which showed growth of 1.1% for the economy as a whole.
The ONS also published data showing that annual factory gate inflation slowed less than expected in July to 5% from 5.1%, after a monthly rise in food prices outweighed a drop in petrol costs.
Input price inflation picked up much less than expected, at a rate of 10.8% from 10.7% in June. Analysts had expected producer output price inflation of 4.9% and input price inflation of 11.4%.
