The UK manufacturing sector activity downturn deepened further in the month of June, the latest survey report from IHS Markit showed this Monday.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) plunged to 76-month lows of 48.0 in June versus 49.2 expected and a slump to thirty-four-month lows of 49.4 seen in May.
Key Points:
Output scaled back as new order inflows contract.
Business confidence dips amid ongoing uncertainty.
Rob Dobson, Director at IHS Markit, commented on the survey:
“The downturn in UK manufacturing deepened during June, as the impact of firms unwinding stockpiles built before the original Brexit date continued to reverberate through the sector and exacerbate weak demand. This led to solid decreases in both production and new orders, which sank the headline PMI to its lowest in almost six-and-a-half years.”
“Demand from the domestic market weakened, while the additional constraint of slower global economic growth meant new export business fell at one of the fastest rates since late-2014.”
Although the consumer goods sector was able to eke out further output growth, the rate of expansion slowed sharply. Solid contractions at intermediate and investment goods producers also suggested that businesses were cutting back on both day-to-day and capital spending in increasing numbers.”
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