Fact Service (March 2016)

Issue 10

Factory output falls


Manufacturing output went into reverse between the end of last year and the beginning of 2016, latest official figures show. 




Factory output decreased by 0.2% in the three months to January, according to the Office for National Statistics, against a 0.1% increase in the three months to December.


In the latest three-month period, output of basic pharmaceuticals was down by 4.1%. Output of electrical equipment was down by 1.8%, as was output of coke and refined petroleum products. 


On the plus side, output in other manufacturing and repair increased by 4.1% and of rubber and plastic products by 1.2%.


Manufacturing output was down by 1.0% on the same three-month period ending January 2015. 




The monthly output figure is more volatile and it showed a 0.7% increase in between December 2015 and January 2016.



Output of the production industries (manufacturing, mining and utilities) was down by 1.3% in the three-month period ending January on the previous on the previous three-month period, but up by 0.3% on the same period a year earlier.


In the three months to January 2016, production and manufacturing were 10.2% and 6.4% respectively below the levels achieved in the first quarter 2008, before the economic downturn.


Manufacturing output in the calendar year 2015 was down by 0.3% on 2014, against the previous estimate of a 0.7% decrease, while production posted a 1.0% increase. 


www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/bulletins/indexofproduction/january2016


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