LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - British manufacturers' input costs rose more than expected in February, as a weaker pound made it dearer to import crude oil, official data showed on Friday.
The Office for National Statistics said input prices rose by 0.6 percent in February. That was much higher than the 0.1 percent increase forecast by analysts and compared with a rise of 0.9 percent in January.
The ONS said the increase was due to a sharp rise in the price of crude oil, which rose by 7.7 percent last month -- the biggest increase since June 2008. It said an increase in crude oil prices had been exacerbated by the pound's weakness against the dollar.
Factory gate prices rose by just 0.1 percent on the month, taking the annual rate down to 3.1 percent, the lowest since September 2007.
The ONS published separate data on construction output, showing the total volume of output fell 7 percent in the three months to December 2008 compared with the previous quarter.