Mining Increases Production In March

Production output increased by 0.2% between Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 according to the ONS. Manufacturing fell by 0.3% over the same period.

The increase in overall production was mainly due to an increase of 4% from mining and quarrying. The increase from the mining and quarrying sector follows the reduced output of Q4 caused by maintenance work in the North Sea. The index covers 15.6% of GDP, services covers 77% and construction 6.8% with the other 0.6% being accounted for by agriculture.

The monthly comparison shows that between February and March 2013 production rose by 0.7%. Manufacturing output increased by 1.1% and the coldest March since 1962 helped to increase demand for the output of the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sub-sector by 2.4%.