UK manufacturing output rises for 18th month in a row

The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which surveys companies and grades overall conditions on a scale from 0 to 100, showed a rise to 58 in November − its highest level since September 1994 and up from a revised figure of 55.4 in October. The PMI has remained above the neutral 50 mark for 16 months running.

Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit and author of the UK Manufacturing PMI, said that these figures confound the consensus forecast of weaker growth.

‘This is welcome news, as the rebalancing of the economy away from consumption towards exports represents a key part of the coalition’s growth strategy and comes at a time when stronger manufacturing expansion may well be needed to offset a likely slowdown in consumer spending as austerity measures start to bite,’ he said.

Dobson said the stand-out number was the record increase in employment, which rose at the quickest pace since the survey began in 1992, reflecting stronger growth of output and faster inflows of new work and new export orders.