Manufacturing slump shows economy is more imbalanced than ever

Post-referendum recovery in UK was hit by 0.9% drop in output in October – and it cannot simply be dismissed as a one-offBritain’s post-referendum recovery in manufacturing came to an abrupt halt in October. Two months of rising output were followed by a chunky 0.9% drop in October.To put it mildly, this came as a shock to economic forecasters. Strong consumer demand, the fall in the value of sterling and, especially, strong survey evidence, had all pointed to rising factory producti