UK Manufacturing Rises in January

New orders at Britain’s factories grew at the strongest rate in almost three years in the three months to January as economic uncertainty faded.

A total of 34% of manufacturers reported an increase in new orders over the period, while 21% reported a fall according to the CBI’s latest industrial trends survey. The subsequent balance of +13% was the highest since April 2011.

The picture was less positive for the month of January alone however, with the new orders balance falling unexpectedly to -2% from +12% in December. There was an even sharper drop in export orders, with a balance of -16% reporting a fall.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Overall, the CBI survey points to the manufacturing sector being pretty well placed and upbeat at the start of 2014. However, the dip in orders in January is a reminder that the manufacturing sector is not guaranteed a strong 2014.”

Output increased at a faster pace in the three months to January, with a balance of +18% reporting an increase compared with +8% in the three months to October.

via theguardian.com

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.