Industrial production grew by a slower-than-expected 0.3pc in November, despite a strong rebound in oil and gas extraction that was due to the completion of maintenance on Britain's largest North Sea field.
Manufacturing output also fell 0.3pc on the month - less than a 1.3pc fall seen in October, but also overturning forecasts for a monthly rise of 0.5pc.
"It's a disappointing set of data. We had thought that we might see a bounce back in manufacturing output over the month, but what we saw instead was a further contraction," said Philip Shaw, an economist with Investec in London.
"Most of the official data are suggesting weakness over the fourth quarter."
That would be further bad news for a government struggling to convince voters and economists that it can get the economy back on to a growth track while cutting public spending to reduce the budget deficit.
Sterling fell to a nine-month low against the euro after the statistics office release.
Still, there have been some more positive signs, particularly on lending, and Shaw underlined that the numbers did not yet conclusively point to a contraction in the fourth quarter. Analysts also expect the economy to recover modestly in the first three months of 2013.
"With austerity and inflation going nowhere, the outlook for manufacturers is subdued," said Mike Rigby, who heads up UK bank Barclays' business with companies in the sector.
"However, there may be some respite with encouraging economic signs from abroad, particularly if recent reports that the euro zone woes may be bottoming out are correct."
Overall industrial output had fallen 0.9pc in October. The rise in November was largely due to an 11.3pc jump in oil and gas output that was the biggest since 1968, after maintenance of the Buzzard North Sea field was completed.
Economists had predicted a monthly rise of 0.8pc in industrial production.
Separate non-seasonally adjusted construction figures, also released on Friday, showed a 3.4pc fall on the month in output and a 9.8pc annual drop - undermining hopes of a rebound in the sector.
The latest forecasts from the government's fiscal watchdog predict the economy will shrink over the last three months of 2012 - a prospect already reinforced by weak trade data and downbeat purchasing managers' surveys.
Economic uncertainty, below-inflation wage growth and finance minister George Osborne's austerity measures have kept a lid on demand for manufactured goods at home, while exports are struggling to recover in the face of a weakened euro zone economy.
But data from the BoE has also shown some sign that its Funding for Lending Scheme - aimed at getting more credit into the wider economy - is beginning to have some effect.
The Telegraph
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