British manufacturing output rose at its fastest pace in over a year in May as factories ramped up output after a Royal Wedding-related drop in April, official data showed on Thursday. Industrial output, however, failed to fully recoup April's losses and the figures are unlikely to alter the view that Britain's recovery is struggling to gain traction after lurching into reverse at the end of last year.
"It still looks pretty likely that industrial production overall will be negative over the second quarter and a drag on Q2 GDP," said Victoria Cadman at Investec. The Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing output - which does not include utilities or oil and gas extraction - rose by 1.8 percent in May, after a drop of 1.6 percent in April.
The wider measure of industrial output, however, rose by a below-forecast 0.9 percent in May, making up only half of April's drop. A sharp fall in oil and gas production due to unplanned maintenance work was largely to blame. Britain's manufacturing sector has been one of the few bright spots in the economy, but it accounts for just 12.8 percent of total output.
Purchasing managers' surveys this week suggest the economy grew a dismal 0.3 percent in the second quarter, well below trend. Growth of 0.5 percent in the first three months of the year only offset the previous quarter's decline. Assessing the strength of the recovery has been complicated, by the extra public holiday for the Royal Wedding on April 29. In addition, many manufacturers have been hit by supply chain disruptions caused by Japan's earthquake and Tsunami in March. The statistics office said the effects of the Japanese tsunami on UK manufacturing diminished in May. A number of car manufacturers indicated that sales were getting back towards normal levels.
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