UK manufacturing sector slashes jobs after 'lacklustre' performance
“Unnerving”, “sluggish” and “lacklustre” were the latest downbeat verdicts on UK manufacturing as the sector cut staff for the first time in more than two years.
The latest activity index from financial-data firm Markit and the Chartered Institute for Procurement & Supply showed firms clinging to modest growth.
The benchmark — where a score over 50 signals growth — eased from 51.6 to 51.5 in September, but manufacturers also shed jobs for the first time since April 2013.
Markit senior economist Rob Dobson called the performance “sluggish”, adding that “the generally lacklustre operating environment encouraged firms to scale back employment”.
Cips chief executive David Noble called the lack of strong growth “unnerving”.
The survey is unlikely to hurry the Bank of England to raise rates.
Capital Economics’ Ruth Miller said: “The industrial side is playing no role in the economic recovery.”
Separately, minutes of the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee’s latest meeting were revealed today.
They showed that policymakers considered asking banks to bolster their ‘rainy day’ funds given the “challenging outlook for financial stability”.
The FPC discussed raising the amount of capital banks must set aside - the so-called “countercyclical capital buffer” from the current 0%, due to “modest but rising credit growth and indicators that some domestic risks were beginning to re-emerge”.
