British factory output suffered an unexpected slump in May, echoing a similar decline in German industrial production, official data showed on Tuesday, raising questions about the pace of the country's recovery. Factory output dropped by 1.3 percent in May, its biggest fall since January 2013 and in sharp contrast to economists' forecasts for a solid 0.4 percent increase, the Office for National Statistics said. The decline comes after the sector recorded its strongest growth in nearly four years in the three months to April, and goes against the grain of generally robust private-sector surveys. The Bank of England ... (full story)