Red hot exports help UK close trade deficit

The export of manufactured goods was 14.7% up on a year ago, jumping 8.7% in October alone. British exporters are faring far better than their Eurozone peers- a welcome boost as political arguments about the dangers of UK isolation beginning to rage, However, experts played down the data. It was unwise to get too excited about volatile monthly data because the trend over the more reliable three month period suggests that the underlying rate of growth of exports has slowed markedly said one leading economist. "At the start of the year, exports were growing at a rate of roughly 6% every three months, but now we are only seeing a quarterly rate of increase of 0.6%," said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson. The UK was not immune to the global slowdown in economic growth and was especially exposed to the Eurozone crisis, he warned. "Neverthehless, the fact that UK exports are continuing to grow is hugely encouraging and sits in sharp contrast to many other countries, where exports are now falling sharply. Most striking is the divergence between export performance in the UK and Germany. Other data released today showed that German exports fell 3.6% in October. German imports also fell, down 1% on October, highlighting the weakness in what was the Eurozone's main engine of economic recovery earlier this year."