In a development which has once again signaled that the economy is unstable and still struggling to shake off the recession hurt, manufacturing across Britain unexpectedly halted for the month of October, taking analysts and experts by a complete surprise.

After recording a rise of 1.5% in September, factory output was unchanged for the month, as has been confirmed by the figures put forward by the Office for National Statistics. Economists had predicted an increase of about 0.4%, as was revealed by Bloomberg News after surveying 21 experts.

"At first glance it is below expectations, but it was coming off a strong month in September. ll in all, I'm not too worried about it. Most of the data is pointing towards stabilization and it's still consistent with a recovery", said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG, London.

Out of all the 13 major manufacturing categories, only 4 recorded a rise, led by machinery and equipment, and as many as 9 fell, with the biggest fall being recorded by electrical and optical gear.

The revelation of the data, however, had little effect on the value of the British Pound which traded at $1.6358 in the morning trading in London, after recording a mere 0.7% decline on yesterday.

(With Inputs from TopNews United Kingdom)