LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - British factory output fell more than expected in August and the country's trade deficit widened sharply, data showed on Tuesday, dampening prospects of a sustained recovery in the second half of 2012.
Following is a summary of the data and economists' reactions.
ANALYST VIEWS ALAN CLARKE, SCOTIABANK:
"The industrial output was disappointing but not a major surprise. Overall it was down half a per cent, but I was expecting a bit worse.
"So if you factor that into the likely GDP output for Q3, we'll be looking at a gain of about three quarters of a percent. We ought to know much more when the construction industry data comes out next week.
"As for Q4, it's obviously very early days, but once the lights went out on the closing ceremony of the Olympics, we were looking for a bit of payback.
"There's still time for the growth surveys to improve and get the economy back on track."
BRIAN HILLIARD, SOCIETE GENERALE:
"I am not surprised to see a dip in the manufacturing numbers given that we had an exaggerated bounce the previous month. It's heartening to see a little bit of continuing growth in North Sea oil and gas output, which I think is still on a downward trend."
******************************************************* MANUFACTURING OUTPUT AUG JULY (PRV JULY) FCAST Mth-on-mth change in pct -1.1 3.1 (3.2) -0.6 Yr-on-yr change -1.2 -0.7 (-0.5) -0.6 3-mth/3-mth change -0.7 0.1 (0.2) INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Mth-on-mth change in pct -0.5 2.8 (2.9) -0.5 Yr-on-yr change -1.2 -0.8 (-0.8) -1.1 3-mth/3-mth change -0.1 UNCH (UNCH) TRADE FIGURES AUG JULY FCAST Goods balance -9.844 -7.337 (-7.149) -8.50 Non-EU goods balance -4.972 -2.929 (-2.877) -4.00 EU 27 goods balance -4.872 -4.408 (-4.272)
- Biggest total goods and services trade deficit since April 2012, second-highest on record
(Reporting by Olesya Dmitracova)
((olesya.dmitracova@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 8051; Reuters Messaging: olesya.dmitracova.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: BRITAIN ECONOMY/