Output and earnings weak in Britain LONDON, May 24 (UPI) -- Britain's Office of National Statistics said both wages and economic output have been "weak" in the past six months. The country's gross domestic output dropped 0.6 percent from October 2011 through March 2012, the data office said Thursday. The GDP dropped 0.3 percent in the first quarter with the decline "mainly due to weakness in construction output," ONS said. While the economy has been "broadly flat over the past year," average earnings growth has been "weak," the agency said. Wages in the service sector rose by 0.6 percent in the first quarter, while output in the service sector rose 1 percent. In construction, annual earning fell 0.4 percent in the quarter while production dropped 3.7 percent. In manufacturing, earnings rose 0.5 percent while production fell 0.8 percent, the office said.