**MNI: 5 Things We Learned From UK Short Term Indicators Data

By Laurie Laird and Jamie Satchithanantham

     **LONDON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the Short Term

Indicators data pack published Friday by the Office for National Statistics.

     - Economic growth sputtered in December, with a sharp fall in industrial

production and a marked widening in the trade deficit.

     - As forecast in our '5 Things To Look Out For' preview piece, the closure

of the Forties Pipeline System meant that the mining and quarrying sub-component

of IOP registered a double-digit monthly decline -- down almost 19% on the

month.

     - Despite the SMMT reporting a 11% fall in car production in December, data

from the ONS showed production of vehicles up 0.7% m/m. Explaining the

discrepancy between the statistics an ONS official said that firstly, the SMMT

do not seasonally adjust their data unlike the ONS. Secondly, the ONS look at

production of cars, vans and motors while the SMMT's data just concerns cars.

Finally, the ONS's data is unit-based whereas the SMMT data is based in

value-terms.

     - A stg1.2bn ballooning of the December deficit meant that the deficit

widened stg3.8bn to stg10.8bn in the fourth quarter. This meant that the sector

will drag around -0.7pp on Q4 GDP growth, after exerting a neutral effect in Q3.

     - Construction rebounded in December, lifted by private housing, but an ONS

official indicated that the sector remains weak.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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