UK Manufacturing Activity Expands

(RTTNews) - The UK manufacturing activity expanded again in July, reflecting upturns in production, new business and export orders, final survey data from S&P Global showed Monday.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index dropped to a four-month low of 51.9 from 52.5 in June. The flash reading was 52.8.

However, the score has remained above the neutral 50.0 mark for the ninth straight month.

"July brought further encouragement for the UK manufacturing sector, as rates of growth in output, new orders and new export business all accelerated," S&P Global Market Intelligence Director Rob Dobson said.

The survey showed that output, new orders and employment all rose, while average supplier delivery times lengthened. The fall in PMI since June was due to a steep reduction in stocks of purchases, slower jobs growth and a sharp easing in the rate of increase in vendor lead times.

Further, business optimism remained relatively subdued despite the accelerations in output and new order growth.

Regarding price pressures, the survey showed that rates of increase in input costs and selling prices both cooled further from recent peaks.