British industrial output unexpectedly rose thanks to strong oil and gas production but manufacturing fell, underscoring a challenge for finance minister George Osborne before Wednesday's budget statement. Industrial output rose by a monthly 0.4 percent in May, official figures showed on Tuesday, beating all forecasts from economists in a Reuters poll who had predicted a drop of 0.2 percent. Oil and gas output, which had been strong in the previous two months as global oil prices began to recover from last year's fall, leapt by 7.3 percent from April, the biggest increase in more than a year. An official at the ... (full story)