• Production grew 2% in March, beating forecasts of a 0.3% rise • Figures to boost overall GDP growth at the start of the year Industrial production surged in March, rising at its fastest pace in almost a decade and suggesting Britain’s overall economic growth was stronger than expected at the start of this year. Industrial production rose 2.0% on the month, the strongest performance since the summer of 2002 and much faster than economists’ forecasts for a 0.3% rise. Publishing the data, the Office for National Statistics said it would add 0.1 percentage points to GDP growth in the first quarter, which its initial estimates had put at a lacklustre 0.2% .