British industrial production weak in November

The latest official figures have shown that Britain's industrial sector performed less strongly than expected in November last year, with manufacturing output dropping 2.1 percent year on year and 0.3 percent compared with the previous month. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday that the overall industrial production, which cover manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and energy supply sectors, is estimated to fall by 2.4 percent in November compared with the same month of 2011, which is the 20th consecutive monthly fall on year-on-year basis. Compared with October last year, the industrial production rose only 0.3 percent in the month. "A rise of 8.7 percent in mining and quarrying was partially offset by falls of 0.3 percent in manufacturing and 4.1 percent in energy supply," said the ONS. The ONS report on output in the construction output showed a 9.8 percent drop in November compared with November 2011. The figures have made grim reading for the British government and have pointed to a possible flat economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2012. Britain had escaped from its double-dip recession in the third quarter of 2012, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing 1.0 percent. However this was due to one-off factors such as the London Olympics and rebounding activity after public holidays in the second quarter of the year. The ONS is expected to publish its initial estimate for British GDP in the fourth quarter of last year on Jan. 25.