Unexpected drop in UK manufacturing

British manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in January as computer and electronics production plunged.

Output declined 0.5% after a 0.1% increase in December, according to the Office for National Statistics. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey had forecast a 0.2% gain. The weakness reflected a 9.5% drop in electronics — the biggest in 13 years — after a surge in December because of a large defence contract.

Total industrial production, which accounts for about 15% of GDP, fell 0.1% in January, against an estimate for a 0.2% gain. The computer and electronics sector knocked 0.5 percentage points from output. From a year earlier, production rose 1.3%.