The UK's industrial sector flatlined in June and suffered its sharpest quarterly fall in more than two years, adding to fears about the economic recovery. The Office for National Statistics Tuesday showed that industrial production stagnated in June from May, slowing from May's 0.8% growth. In the second quarter, production fell 1.6% in the second quarter from the first, the biggest dip since the first three months of 2009.

The biggest driver for the fall was production of cars and other forms of transport equipment, which declined by 1.7% from the previous month. Outside of the manufacturing sector, production was boosted by a rise in oil output in the UK's offshore oil fields, of 0.8% in month-to-month terms.

The ONS said that compared to June 2010 the seasonally adjusted index of production fell by 0.3% in June  2011. The fall was mainly due to a fall of 13.1% in the mining and quarrying sector. For the mining and quarrying sector this was the 9th consecutive month on a year ago fall. The manufacturing sector saw the 17th consecutive month on a year ago rise, with a rise of 2.1% in June 2011 compared to June 2010.

Month on month the seasonally adjusted index of production was flat, at 0.0%. Looking at the quarter on quarter seasonally adjusted index of production, the second quarter of 2011 fell by 1.6% compared to the first quarter of 2011. This was the largest quarter on quarter fall since the first quarter of 2009.

Manufacturing: Month on month seasonally adjusted manufacturing output fell by 0.4% in June 2011, following a rise of 1.8% in May 2011. The largest contributor to the month on month fall in manufacturing output was the transport equipment sub sector, which fell by 1.7%, followed by the paper, printing and publishing sub sector which fell by 1.2%. In contrast, the textiles and leather clothing sub sector rose by 4.1% in June 2011 compared to May 2011.

The quarter on quarter comparison, saw manufacturing output fall by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2011. This was the largest quarter on quarter fall since the third quarter of 2009. The main downward driver for the second quarter was the transport and equipment sub sector which fell by 4.5%.

Mining & Quarrying: In contrast to the month on a year ago mining and quarrying sector estimates, which showed a fall of 13.1%, the month on month estimates rose by 0.8%, the largest rise since January
2011. The main upward driver for this month on month rise was oil and gas extraction which rose by 0.4%, the largest since March 2011.

The quarter on quarter comparison, saw the mining & quarrying sector fall by 6.8% in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2011. This was the largest quarter on quarter fall since the second quarter of 2006.

Energy: Month on month, the energy sector rose by 2.0% in June 2011, the largest rise since December 2010. The main upward driver was electricity which rose by 2.2%. The quarter on quarter comparison, saw the energy sector fall by 2.8% in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2011.