UK manufacturing production rises by 0.9% m/m in Feb, a big beat

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the UK industrial and manufacturing production data on Wednesday, with the overall industrial activity extended its recent rebound in the month of February.

Manufacturing output arrived at 0.9% m/m in Feb versus 0.2% expectations and 1.1% in Jan, while total industrial output came in at 0.6% vs. 0.1% expected and 0.7% last.

On an annualized basis, the UK manufacturing production figures came in at 0.6% in Feb, beating expectations of -0.7% by a big margin. Total industrial output dropped further by 0.1% in Feb, bettering expectations of a 0.9% drop and against the previous -0.3%.

Separately, the UK goods trade balance numbers were published, which arrived at GBP –14.11 billion in Feb, versus GBP -12.70 billion expectations and GBP -13.08 billion last. Total trade balance (non-EU) came in at GBP -5.841 billion in Feb versus GBP -6.558 billion previous.