British manufacturing output unexpectedly fell for the second month running in September, official data showed today.
The British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that manufacturing output fell 0.3 per cent - the biggest drop since March and compared with analysts' forecasts of a rise of 0.3 per cent. That left output 0.8 per cent weaker than a year earlier in September.
Overall, industrial production was also weaker than expected, rising by just 0.5 per cent instead of the 0.8 per cent predicted by analysts. That was due to maintenance work in certain oil fields being extended into September.
But the ONS said revisions to back data meant that the quarterly estimate for production - a drop of 0.6 per cent - was in line with published GDP data for the third quarter.
Government bonds and interest rate futures rallied on the view that weak growth would prompt another cut in borrowing costs from their current 4.5 per cent early next year.
The ONS said the manufacturing sector was growing on a quarterly basis, at a rate of 0.4 per cent.
The trend in industrial production had also improved, according to the ONS, and output was now seen declining at a rate of 1.5 per cent instead of 3 per cent.