Figures published today by the Office for National
Statistics suggest that British manufacturing has slipped into recession.
Manufacturing output has fallen for the second successive
quarter, which is the accepted definition of recession.
The latest statistics show that although manufacturing output
increased by 0.3 per cent between May and June, it fell overall by 2 per cent compared
with the previous quarter.
In the latest quarter there was a significant decrease in
output of 7.9 per cent within the electrical and optical equipment industries.
There were significant falls in output in the optical
networking and mobile phones industry and in the manufacturing of computers.
Output in the electricity, gas and water supply sectors fell
by 0.1 per cent but mining and quarrying output increased by 5.8 per cent
compared with the previous quarter.
By Katie Hawkins
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