The UK manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in more than four years in November, driven by production and new orders, data from IHS Markit showed Friday.
The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 58.2 in November from a revised 56.6 in October. This was the highest score since August 2013.
The score was forecast to rise moderately to 56.5 from October's originally estimated value of 56.3.
On its current course, manufacturing production is rising at a quarterly rate approaching 2 percent, providing a real boost to the pace of broader economic expansion, Rob Dobson, director at IHS Markit, said.
The survey provides further optimism that the manufacturing sector will continue to play a key role in offsetting the slowdown in the consumer services sector this year and next, Ruth Gregory, an economist at Capital Economics, said.
Production expanded at the fastest pace since September 2016 and to one of the greatest extents over the past four years. Companies cited stronger inflows of new orders as reason for higher production.
Strong and accelerated growth of production and new orders was registered across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods industries.
At the same time, staffing levels climbed for the sixteenth successive month, with the rate of jobs growth the highest since June 2014.
On the price front, data revealed that output charges continued to rise at a substantial clip, the fastest for seven months and among the highest during the past six-and-a-half years.
The coming months should provide greater evidence on any impact that the recent interest rate increase from the Bank of England will have on reining in cost pressures, Dobson at IHS Markit, said.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
