British manufacturers started 2014 on a solid footing in January but bad weather caused the broader measure of growth in industrial output to slow sharply, official data showed yesterday.

Manufacturing output grew by 0.4 per cent in January from December – despite a big fall in output in the pharmaceutical industry – and was 3.3 per cent higher than in the same month last year, the UK Office for National Statistics said.

Economists in a Reuters poll had expected a month-on-month rise of 0.3 per cent and a 3.3 per cent increase for the year.

Overall industrial output, which includes power generation and Britain’s North Sea oil production as well as manufacturing, climbed 0.1 per cent on the month, a sharp slowdown from growth of 0.5 per cent in December.

The figure was slightly weaker than a forecast of 0.2 per cent in a Reuters poll of economists.

Compared with a year ago, industrial output was up 2.9 per cent, the ONS said.

Extraction of oil and gas was down 5.8 per cent in January compared with December. Bad weather impeded production among several companies, the ONS said.

British Finance Minister George Osborne has said he would announce measures to help manufacturers when he delivers his annual Budget statement next week.

The government has long sought to reduce the reliance of the economy on household spending but manufacturing output is still nine per cent smaller than when British economic output hit its peak before the financial crisis.

Compared with a year ago, industrial output was up 2.9%

In the three months to the end of January – a smoother reading than the sometimes volatile monthly numbers – measures of manufacturing and overall industrial production were both up 0.7 per cent compared with the previous three months, picking up a bit of speed.

Britain’s factory sector had a strong February when it grew more than in any other leading European economy, according to a survey of purchasing managers published last week.