(Original title: Orders shrank significantly, UK manufacturing PMI fell sharply to 45.3 in December)
Zhitong Finance APP was informed that, according to a monthly survey released on Tuesday, due to a sharp drop in new orders and layoffs, British manufacturing activity in December suffered one of the largest declines since the 2008-09 recession. The S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 45.3 in December from 46.5 in November, the lowest since May 2009, barring the two months of the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak Level.
While the index was above an initial forecast of 44.7 published last month, it was well below the 47.8 reported in a euro zone survey on Monday.
“Output shrank at the fastest pace in the past 14 years as inflows of new orders weakened,” said S&P Global Director Rob Dobson. It’s worrisome.”
The figures are broadly in line with the downbeat outlook issued last month by the Make UK trade association, which predicted the sector’s output would fall by 3.2% in 2023. The latest official data showed factory output fell 6.8% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
Government budget forecasters also predicted in November that the UK economy as a whole would shrink by 1.4% this year as businesses and households continued to face high inflation.
While manufacturers participating in the PMI survey were slightly more optimistic about the year ahead. Expectations for future output rose to a five-month high as supply chain difficulties became less severe and inflationary pressures fell to their lowest level since late 2020.
But factory layoffs are still at their fastest pace since October 2020 as orders from domestic customers and those in China, the United States, continental Europe and Ireland all fall.
S&P Global said: “The loss of export contracts was mainly due to weak global economic conditions, but also related to Brexit, such as shipping delays and rising costs, causing some EU customers to source products elsewhere.”