Manufacturing activity in Britain is on the way up, according to new PMI figures that put the industry at its highest growth rate since 1994. The industry, which makes up 10 percent of the UK economy, has regained 2.5 years of ground lost in the financial crisis.
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a measure of manufacturing growth tracked by European economic analysis group Markit, reached 57.2 in the latest survey. The metric, which uses 50 as baseline economic stability and anything greater than 50 as an indication of growth, is used to assess worldwide industry activity.
August was the fifth month in a row in which the UK manufacturing sector grew, and one of the fastest periods of growth on record. Orders from UK manufacturers are at their highest level of growth since the early 1990s, according to the data.
Rob Dobson, a senior executive at the data vendor, commented that UK-based plants are ‘booming again.’ The data from Markit has been backed by similar surveys from other financial firms, reinforcing the belief that UK manufacturing is on the rise.
Dobson continued to state that ‘orders and output are growing at the fastest rates for almost 20 years,’ and that rising demand from customers based within the UK was driving the economy forward, alongside Eurozone trading partners.
The EEF, a UK-based trade group specialising in manufacturing, confirmed that UK manufacturing was on the rise. The trade group has revised its predictions for the remainder of the year upwards, believing that the surge in manufacturing activity will continue into 2014.
For UK-based manufacturing firms, it’s good news. For the economy as a whole, and particularly the tens of thousands of skilled manufacturing staff made redundant at the peak of the financial crisis, the industry’s return to form is great news indeed.
