UK manufacturing has grown at the fastest pace in three months, a recent report by the Markit UK manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has shown.
The rise will be welcomed by many in the industry after last month’s less-than-optimistic report, together with a recent fall in export orders.
The PMI rose to 53.2 in October from 51.5 in September, with any figure above 50 indicating growth. The findings are in sharp contrast to the PMI’s September report, which showed that the sector had grown at its slowest pace for 17 months. Markit experts suggested that the pick-up in overall growth reflected the resilience of the UK market with a growing demand for domestic product, mitigating the inimical effects of a slowdown in foreign markets.
The survey also found that the number of jobs created in the industry accelerated in October. In particular, staff numbers at small and medium-sized businesses rose sharply.
Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit, said the report was a “positive marker”, symbolising a “mini-recovery” for the sector.
He said: “It is positive to see the sector break its recent sequence of slower growth. Continued growth of employment, especially at SMEs, suggests that the recovery in the labour market is holding sway.”
He added: “Although the pace of expansion remains below that seen at the start of the year, suggesting the sector will remain only a modest contributor to broader economic growth, it is positive to see the sector break its recent sequence of slower growth.”
Meanwhile, Rob Wood, chief UK economist at the bank Berenberg, cautioned that the UK’s recovery was still slow overall. He said: “The risk of the UK from the Eurozone is not the direct impact of weak exports, which Britain could easily ride out, but rather the potential for uncertainty to infect UK domestic demand as companies perhaps put off investments. The manufacturing PMI jump this month suggests those risks are not yet materialising.”
