February 2017 UK Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI data report 1 March 2017
Prior 55.9
New orders 56.3 vs 57.4 prior
Softer in the second month of the new quarter, though that's not a worry to Rob Dobson at Markit who says that the PMI's point to sector growth of 1.5% this quarter, which would be the one of the best in the last 7 years.
"The latest PMI signals that the UK manufacturing
sector continued its solid start to the year. Although
rates of expansion in output and new business lost
impetus in February, growth remained comfortably
above the long-run averages. The survey is
signalling quarterly manufacturing output growth
close to the 1.5% mark so far in the opening quarter
which, if achieved, would be one of the best
performances over the past seven years."
Export orders rose for the 9th straight month, with survey participants reporting better sales to Europe, America, Asia, Oz and Canada.
Employment continued to rise (7 consecutive month), with job gains across all business sizes.
UK manufacturing PMI
