UK [B]Industrial Production[/B] is expected to have dropped -12.5% in the year to February, the largest decline since records began in 1976. The industrial sector employs over 18% of Britain’s labor force and produces the bulk of the country’s exports, making it both essential to a lasting recovery in economic growth and highly sensitive to the current slump in global demand. The outlook is likely to remain grim in the months ahead as the largest global recession since the Second World War continues to weigh on overseas sales, keeping the lid on economic growth. Indeed, GDP is seen shrinking -3.3% through 2009, the deepest contraction among the G7 nations according to forecasts from the International Monetary Fund. For their part, the Bank of England is expected to keep benchmark interest rates on hold at 0.50% but will almost certainly announce further quantitative easing measures to check the slide in output.