Manufacturing is ‘star of the UK economic show’
1 min read
Latest official figures monitoring the heartbeat of British manufacturing have been hailed as underlining the sector's current position as "the star of the UK economic show". The newest, June, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed total manufacturing output increasing by 4.1% compared to the same month a year ago and by 0.3% over May.
Between May and June, manufacturing output increased in eight of the 13 sub-sectors, with four sub-sectors decreasing and one being flat. The largest positive contributions to overall output were increases of 1.6% in the food, drink and tobacco industries, 2.0% in the chemical and man-made fibres industries and 2.1%t in the basic metals and metal products industries. The largest negative contribution to overall output was a decrease of 2.6 per cent in the electrical and optical equipment industries.
Commenting on the numbers, Graeme Allinson, head of manufacturing at Barclays Corporate, said: "Manufacturing remains the star of the UK economic show, with further good news in today's ONS figures. However, many manufacturers we speak with are now reporting something of a summer slowdown, as growth in orders begins to level out after a period of rapid restocking and a burst of essential investment.
"There is now a chorus of agreement that the UK manufacturing's greatest opportunities lie East. With the Prime Minister's recent trade mission to India, there should be further impetus for any and every company making goods in Britain to at least explore whether their products have a market in Asia."
