Britain’s hard-pressed manufacturers recovered some of the ground lost during a difficult summer with a stronger-than-expected increase in output, the latest figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said factory production rose by 0.5% in August following a 0.7% fall in July caused by an early holiday shutdown of car plants.
Manufacturers have been struggling with the twin impact of a stronger pound and weaker overseas demand, and production in the three months to August – a better guide to the underlying trend than one month’s figures – was 0.9% down on the previous three months.
The ONS said three sectors had been behind the pickup in activity in August: transport, metals, and food and drink.
Manufacturing is the biggest component of industrial production, a category that also includes mining, North Sea oil and gas, and energy.
The ONS said industrial production increased by 1% in August, in part due to the recovery in manufacturing, but also as a result of higher oil and gas output. Over the past three months, industrial production was 0.1% higher than in the three months to May.
Annual comparisons show that in the three months to August, industrial production was 1.3% up on a year earlier, while manufacturing output was down 0.7%.
David Kern, the chief economist of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “It is welcome news to see that manufacturing and total industrial production figures picked up in August after the disappointing declines recorded in July. However, the manufacturing sector is still facing major challenges and it is noticeable that in year-on-year terms, the sector is recording a fall.”
Chris Williamson, the chief economist at Markit, said: “Output of the UK’s manufacturing economy rebounded in August, but the sector appears to be stuck in a soft patch of stagnation at best, with few signs of any imminent improvement to the underlying trend.”
Industrial production makes up less than 20% of British economic output, but the weaker performance in the first two months of the third quarter has left economists expecting a slowdown in growth from the 0.7% recorded in the previous quarter.
