UK industrial production drops unexpectedly in May

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the UK industrial and manufacturing production data on Friday, showing that April’s turn around in the overall industrial activity was a dead cat bounce, as the industrial output fell back into contraction in May.

Manufacturing output dropped by 0.2% m/m in May versus a 0.2% rise seen in April, while total industrial output also showed a 0.1% drop in the reported month, against a 0.2% increase seen in April.

On annualized basis, UK manufacturing production figures came in at 0.4% in May, compared with expectations of +0.0%. Total industrial output slowed its pace of contraction by 0.2% from a year earlier, missing expectations of a 0.2% increase and against the previous -0.8% print.