- Prior 55.8
- Employment 57.1 vs 54.8 prior
- New business 58.1 vs 57.0 prior
- Composite 56.7 vs 55.5 exp. Prior 55.2 revised to 55.3
That’s two good numbers on the spin for UK PMI’s in 2015 with new orders now in its 25 month of expansion.
GBP/USD gets a little bid to 1.5185 from 1.5160
On the prices front, operating expenses have been dragged to the slowest rate for over 5 years but has been partly offset by rising wages. Output prices were kept in check in Jan. Employment posted the second highest level on record.
“The January PMI surveys signalled a reassuringly robust start to the year for the UK economy, indicating a quarterly rate of GDP growth just over 0.5%. The data will allay fears that the economy is slowing sharply, having merely seen growth cool during the winter to a more sustainable pace.” Said Chris Williamson of Markit
I like to see good numbers early in the year and a decent first quarter will bring the hawks out of hibernation, and will go some way to dampening any election slowdown fears. Early days still but better up than down.
