UK manufacturing output staged a surprise gain in January on the back of a better performance by the computer industry, official figures have revealed
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said factory production increased 0.3% over the month, after a 0.3% drop in December.
The data will boost companies in the industry which have suffered a string of knock-backs in recent years. Weak economic conditions in Europe and the relative strength of the pound have made trading particularly difficult.
Analysts said they were pleasantly surprised by the increase, which was helped on by an unexpected 24.1% rise in computer sector output. It meant that the annual growth figure was the least negative since March 2001.
Taking out the distorting effect of computer production, ONS said overall output would actually have dropped by 0.5%. Seasonal factors also imply that the computer boost could have been reversed in February.
