UK manufacturing output tumbled 1.1% in August – a much steeper fall than the City had feared – according to official figures that cast further doubt over the country's ability to mount a meaningful economic recovery.
UK manufacturing output tumbled 1.1% in August – a much steeper fall than the City had feared – according to official figures that cast further doubt over the country's ability to mount a meaningful economic recovery.
STRUGGLE: The manufacturing figures cast fresh doubt on Chancellor George Osborne's vision of a Britain “carried aloft by the march of the makersâ€. Picture: Colin Mearns
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IAN Mcconnell business editor
Meanwhile, separate official figures published yesterday showed the UK racked up its second-biggest monthly trade deficit on record in August, of £4.17 billion.
The grim manufacturing and trade figures were published as the International Monetary Fund forecast that UK gross domestic product (GDP) would fall by 0.4% this year. It had, as recently as July, predicted 0.2% growth in the UK in 2012.
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