- Prior 44.3
It’s just a slight downwards revision as UK manufacturing output, new orders and employment all showed declines in October. Meanwhile, business optimism fell further to a ten-month low. S&P Global notes that:
“The UK manufacturing downturn continued at the start
of the final quarter of the year, meaning the factory sector
remains a weight dragging on an economy already skirting
with recession.
“Production volumes contracted for the eighth consecutive
month, the longest sequence of continual decline since
2008-09, as weak demand at home and overseas led to a
further retrenchment of new order intakes. Companies are
finding trading conditions difficult as they face headwinds
from client destocking, market uncertainty and the impact
of the cost-of-living crisis on consumer demand.
“Risks to the outlook remain skewed to the downside.
Business optimism dipped to a ten-month low and
manufacturers’ increased belt-tightening drove cuts to
employment, purchasing and inventories.
“Although both input prices and output charges fell in
October, this brighter inflation outlook comes at the
cost of increased recession risk, being a symptom of the
broader weak demand malaise.”