By Ed Frankl
The U.K. economy contracted in May as industrial output slid on month, a signal that rising interest rates are weighing on economic activity.
The country’s gross domestic product declined 0.1% on month in May, from a 0.2% growth in April, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday.
The reading was a little better than expectations in a poll of economists by The Wall Street Journal, which expected a 0.2% fall.
The decline was driven by industrial production falling 0.6% in May, weaker than the fall of 0.2% in April, with the construction sector falling 0.2% in May, while services-sector output flatlined in the month, according to the data.
The U.K. registered no growth in GDP in the three months to May, when compared with the three months to February, with monthly GDP now estimated to be 0.2% above prepandemic levels in February 2020, the ONS said.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com