UK manufacturing industry hits three-month low despite strong year

In December, the UK’s manufacturing industry hit a three-month low in December, despite experiencing growth in 2014, according to a survey by Markit

Although overall manufacturing activity was strong in 2014, The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 52.5 for the month, compared with 53.3 in both October and November.

A figure above 50 suggests that the sector is growing.

On a side note, manufacturing growth in the eurozone was close to stagnation in December.

In addition, UK manufacturing employment rose for the 20th month in a row during December

Markit senior economist Rob Dobson said: “The latest survey provides further evidence of the ongoing slowdown in the UK manufacturing sector, with output and new order growth easing to their second-weakest rates during the past year-and-a-half.”

“The main weak spot remains exports, with overseas new order inflows stagnating amid weaker economic growth in key markets and the ongoing lethargy of the euro area,”

“The positives to come out of the December readings are the continued growth, further solid increases to workforce numbers, a supportive domestic market that is driving new contract wins and the broad-base of the upturn across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods industries,”

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