Official figures have shared that manufacturing output managed to rise more than expected during the month of December, mainly on the back of strong gains in the transport, paper and publishing and electrical and optical equipment sectors.

The numbers were shared on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics. As has been revealed by the ONS, manufacturing surged by 0.9% in December 2009, from an upwardly revised 0.2% figure posted for the month of November, and this is three times faster than experts had expected.

"Manufacturing output surged in December while November's performance was revised up to show a modest gain, thereby providing a very welcome boost to recovery hopes after some recent disappointments", said Howard Archer, Chief UK Economist at IHS Global Insight.

Overall, for the complete year, manufacturing was down by 1.9%, and industrial production was 3.6% lower.