Details from the March 2017 UK Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI 3 April 2017
Prior 54.6. Revised to 54.5.
New orders 55.4 vs 56.2 prior
Despite the slight drop, manufacturing has been expanding for the last 8 months.
New orders and output both fell back and prices remain high, say Markit.
"The survey data suggest that the goods-producing sector made a solid contribution to GDP during the opening quarter of 2017. However, it's clear that the expansion will be less than the buoyant 1.3% rise seen in the fourth quarter of last year. "With growth losing further momentum in March, that weaker trend is likely to continue into the second quarter. The latest survey also clearly shows that high costs and weak wage growth are sapping the strength of consumers, with rates of expansion in output and new orders for these products slowing further. "The domestic market remained the primary source of new business wins for manufacturers. The boost to export demand from the historically weak sterling exchange rate also played a role, albeit to a lesser degree than in recent months. "
"The impact of the exchange rate is still being keenly felt on the cost side. Although purchase price inflation moved further from January's record high, it remained among the steepest recorded in the 25-year survey history. " Said Markit's Rob Dobson
The pound has taken a small tumble with cable down to 1.2507 from around 1.2527.
UK manufacturing PMI
