British manufacturing output rose 0.5%, more than expected in May, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on July 6. Analysts' consensus forecast had been for a rise of 0.2%.
On a 12-month basis, output was 0.9% higher in May, compared with analysts' forecasts of a 0.6% rise.
The ONS revealed that British manufacturing output now accounts for only 14.7% of overall economic activity -- its lowest-ever level.
Regarding May's data, the statistics office said there were "significant increases" in output in the electrical and optical equipment industries, where output increased by 2.1% and in the chemicals and man-made fibers industries, where output increased by 1.6%.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
