Manufacturing has suffered its worst quarter since 1991, official figures showed, confirming that the industry has gone into recession. Although output rose slightly in June, it fell by 2% over the quarter, making two successive quarters of falling output.
Government statisticians estimate that the trend in manufacturing is a fall of 5% per year – the worst figure since 1991. The fall in production from its peak at the end of 2000 has been the steepest since the recession of the early 1980s.
The greatest falls in output were for technology goods, but the decline was broad based throughout manufacturing. Of the industry’s 13 subsectors, only two – food, drink and tobacco, and chemicals – reported rising output over the quarter.
Source: FT
