London, Oct 10 (IANS): British manufacturing and August trade data were disappointing, economists said.

Manufacturing fell by 1.2 percent month-on-month, leaving output 10 percent below the pre-recession peak of January 2008, according to the trade data released Wednesday.

The trade deficit for goods stand at 9.6 billion pounds (about $15.3 billion), against hopes that the gap would narrow to about 8.9 billion pounds, reports Xinhua.

"Today's data is another sign that the recent pace of recovery may slow slightly as we are approaching the year-end," said John Zhu, an economist with HSBC Global Research.

"This should not be too surprising. Real-terms wages are still falling, meaning consumers will need to save less or borrow more to increase spending. Meanwhile, external demand is suffering due to the slowdown in emerging market growth, making it more difficult for the British export to make its way towards stronger growth," Zhu added.

Despite a return of growth in the beginning of 2013, the Britain is struggling to rebalance its economy towards exports and manufacturing, he said.

"While this could be seen as somewhat of a reality check for the British economy, not too much should be read into the marked drop in industrial output and wide trade deficit in August," said Howard Archer, chief British economist, IHS Global Insight.

A warm summer has contributed to five months continuous reduction in gas and electricity production, with the sector recording a fall of 1.9 percent in August, the largest fall of the sector.

Economists have been predicting upward revision for the British economy after the recovery began in the first quarter of 2013, breaking a prolonged period of stagnancy throughout 2012.