UK manufacturers are celebrating at the start of the New Year after a better-than-expected measure of the CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index was reported today.
The PMI registered 54.1 for December whereby anything over 50 indicates growth; analysts had predicted a reading of just 52. The measure is up from 51.8 in November and makes December the best month in two years for UK manufacturing.
Job losses in December were at the slowest rate since May, 2008 and were suffered mostly at larger companies; small firms reported in an increase in staff levels. New orders rose to 57.4 – their highest level in 29 months, since July 2007.
Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit, said the data constitutes “a positive end to a tumultuous year for UK manufacturers.”
