Industrial production showed an unexpected fall in June from May, while figures for the second quarter were revised down.

It was hit by setbacks in the output of mining and oil and gas as the maintenance season kicked in, although manufacturing output continued to grow slightly, official figures showed.

The office for National Statistics revealed that industrial production, which includes manufacturing output, as well as mining, quarrying and utilities, and oil and gas, slipped by 0.1 per cent after a down-wardly revised 0.2 per cent rise the previous month.

The latest figure was well below analysts' forecasts for a rise of 0.2 per cent.

It was largely due to a 2.9 per cent slump in mining and quarrying output and, within that, a 3.1 per cent drop in oil and gas, NS said. This was marginally offset by an increase in utilities output.

Over the second quarter as a whole, industrial production fell by 0.2 per cent, worse than the 0.1 per cent fall given in initial estimates. This could take 0.02 percentage points off total second quarter GDP growth, provisionally placed at 0.8 per cent, NS said.

Industrial production makes up 18.6 per cent of GDP which is up 2.6 per cent year-on-year.

Manufacturing output meanwhile, which accounts for 14.7 per cent of GDP, rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.1 per cent in June from the previous month, slightly below analysts' forecasts for a rise of 0.2 per cent. This was offset, however, by an upward revision to May's monthly rise to 0.6 per cent from 0.5 per cent.

The statistics office said there were small rises in a number of industries, though these were largely offset by a 1.3 per cent decrease in chemicals and man-made fibres.

On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output was up 0.9 per cent, and followed an upwardly revised one per cent jump in May.

On a three monthly basis up to June, it pushed ahead 0.6 per cent from the previous three months, suggesting the sector is continuing to grow.

Compared with the same three months a year ago, manufacturing output was 0.8 per cent higher.

HBOS economist Mark Miller said the figures were slightly disappointing, particularly the weaker-than-expected manufacturing output numbers.

He suggested these may have been caused by the recent high oil prices, though overall the longer term outlook for the sector remained fairly bright.

"Going into 2007, the euro zone has been doing well and this should augur well for the UK manufacturing sector," Mr Miller said.

He noted that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee was unlikely to be too concerned by the figures given its focus on inflation.

The MPC would not have had access to the data when it announced its decision last week to raise interest rates to 4.75 per cent, NS said.

Howard Archer, economist at Global Insight, noted: "While manufacturing output only edged up in June, this followed healthy growth in May. Overall, the manufacturing sector seems to be currently experiencing solid, if unspectacular growth.

"However, there are significant clouds on the horizon for manufacturers as global growth seems likely to be markedy softer in 2007."