UK industrial production fell unexpectedly in November, as oil and gas extraction tumbled, official figures have shown.
However, the manufacturing output component of industrial production rose by 0.7 per cent in November, according to the figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics. This rise followed a 0.7 per cent drop in manufacturing output in October.
Industrial production, which includes mining and quarrying, oil and gas extraction and electricity, gas and water supply as well as manufacturing output, fell by 0.1 per cent month-on-month in November. Economists had forecast a rise of 0.2 per cent.
Oil and gas extraction dropped by 5.5 per cent during November, to be down 2.6 per cent on the same month of 2013.
The ONS said of the 5.5 per cent drop: "This is the largest decrease since January 2014, continuing the volatility in this sector."
The fall in industrial production in November followed a 0.3 per cent month-on-month decline in October.
The ONS also published figures yesterday showing that the UK's deficit on trade in goods with the rest of the world narrowed from an upwardly-revised £9.84 billion in October to £8.85bn in November as imports fell by more than exports. The November deficit was not as wide as the £9.4bn figure forecast by economists.
Maeve Johnston, UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics said: "Industrial production fell by 0.1 per cent on a monthly basis, compared to a consensus expectation for a 0.2 per cent monthly rise. However, this largely reflected a 5.5 per cent monthly fall in oil and gas output, perhaps due to a collapse in the oil price. Manufacturing output managed to offset most of this weakness with a 0.7 per cent rise."
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