Factory output up at start of year

Manufacturing output increased by 0.7% in the three months to January 2014, official figures show.

The increase on the previous three months was mainly due to increased output in rubber and plastics (+5.2%) and chemicals and chemical products (+3.7%).

On the downside, the previously resilient drugs and car industries showed 1.6% and 1.5% falls in output respectively in the three months to January compared with the previous three-month period.

Factory output was 2.2% higher than the three-month period ending January 2013, the Office for National Statistics said.

Based on the more volatile monthly figures, factory output increased by 0.4% in January on December 2013 and was 3.3% higher than January 2013.

The index of production (manufacturing, mining and utilities) increased by 0.7% in the three months to January 2014 on the previous three-month period and by 2.3% on the same period 2013.

The monthly figures for January showed a 0.1% increase on December and a 2.9% increase on January 2013.

2013 For 2013 as whole, manufacturing output is now thought to have contracted by 0.7% on the year before, against the previous estimate of a 0.6% decrease. The annual change in the index of production is unchanged at a 0.3% decrease.

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/iop/index-of-production/january-2014/stb-iop-jan-2014.html