Factory output expands


Factory output grew in second quarter of the year, official figures show.


Manufacturing output was 1.8% higher in the quarter ending June than the previous quarter ending March.


Nine of the 13 subsectors posted growth figures compared with the previous quarter.


The biggest contributions to the expansion in output came from pharmaceuticals with a 6.4% increase; transport equipment, such as cars, with a 5.6% increase; and coke and refined petroleum products with a 2.9% increase.


On the downside, output shrank in four subsectors, including a 2.4% cut in electrical equipment.


Factory output was 1.1% higher than the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the volatile monthly figure showed a 0.3% decrease in June compared with May.


In the second quarter of the year, output of the production industries — manufacturing, utilities and mining — was 2.1% higher than the first quarter of 2016 and 1.6% higher than the same period a year earlier.


The volatile monthly figure for production output showed just a 0.1% increase in June compared with the previous month.


In the second quarter of 2016, manufacturing and production were 4.5% and 7.4% respectively below the level they reached in the pre-downturn peak in the first quarter 2008.


www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/bulletins/indexofproduction/june2016