India, March 14 -- The UK economy logged an unexpected contraction at the start of the year on a sharp fall in production, official data revealed on Friday.
Gross domestic product shrank 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in January, following a growth of 0.4 percent in December, the Office for National Statistics reported. GDP was expected to grow 0.1 percent. The largest contributor to the fall was industrial production, which fell 0.9 percent reversing a 0.5 percent gain in December. A similar sharp fall was last reported in April 2024.
Manufacturing output slid 1.1 percent, in contrast to the 0.7 percent increase in the previous month. At the same time, construction output was down 0.2 percent.
Partially offsetting these falls, services ...