UK economy extends recovery as factories boost output, wages rise

LONDON, Apr 8 (Reuters): Britain's economy extended its strong recovery into this year, data showed on Tuesday, with manufacturing jumping by much more than expected, companies reporting a buoyant first quarter and signs of a pick-up in wages.
The pound surged as the Office for National Statistics said manufacturing output expanded by 1.0 per cent in February from January - its biggest increase since September last year.
Factory production was 3.8 per cent higher than in the same month of 2013, the biggest increase by that measure in three years.
Economists in a Reuters poll had expected a month-on-month rise of 0.3 per cent and a 3.1 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 0.9 per cent on the month, recovering from a weak January when bad weather hampered North Sea oil and gas production.
The figure was stronger than a forecast of a 0.3 per cent increase in the Reuters poll.
Compared with a year ago, industrial output was up 2.7 per cent, the ONS said.
British finance minister George Osborne last month announced measures to help manufacturers under long-standing plans to make Britain's economy less dependent on consumer demand.
After staging a surprisingly fast recovery in 2013, Britain's economy is growing more quickly than almost all other developed countries, a fillip for Osborne who will attend a meeting of the International Monetary Fund this week.
Last year, he resisted pressure from the International Monetary Fund to rein in the government's austerity program and spend more to get the recovery going.