Morgan Newfield: UK Manufacturing and Construction Grows

TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 14, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Although the temporary closure of a major oil pipeline caused UK industry to go through its biggest decline in five years, wider manufacturing data indicated robust economic growth for the country at the end of last year.

Analysts at Taipei, Taiwan based Morgan Newfield say that, according to official data, construction and manufacturing also performed better than anticipated in the last month of 2017.

The UK economy slowed somewhat last year as elevated inflation caused by a devalued currency after the Brexit referendum damaged the spending power of consumers. However, Morgan Newfield analysts say that some exporters have benefited from the weakened currency and a broader global economic recovery.

The Office for National Statistics said that industrial output dropped by 1.3 percent on a month on month basis in December, which was the biggest fall in more than five years.

Morgan Newfield economists say that most forecasters had anticipated an output drop of 0.9 percent as the temporary shutdown in the broken Forties North Sea oil pipeline took a toll on the manufacturing sector.

While recent data revealed that the knock on manufacturing was worse than expected, the pipeline is operational once again and Morgan Newfield economists believe a rebound in January production is probable.

Morgan Newfield economists believe that the recent data will probably not change the Bank of England’s outlook. Policymakers have upwardly revised their growth forecasts due to a widespread global economic recovery and will likely increase interest rates sooner than was predicted last year.

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Source: Morgan Newfield