MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK manufacturing slowdown continues to take hold

British manufacturing fell at a record pace in November as the slowdown continued to take hold, the latest figures have revealed.

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit's latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed the headline reading had fallen to a new low of 34.4, from a downwardly revised reading of 40.7 in October, while output also slid to its weakest level ever of 31.9, from 41. The readings were the lowest recorded since the survey began in January 1992, while the drop in the headline rate of 6.3 points was also a new record. The grim update shows the decline of manufacturing in the UK continues unabated in the face of the slowdown, and it also revealed the employment reading slid to a new low of 35.7, down from 40.2 last month. The employment reading has remained below the all important 50 mark since April this year. The director of professional practice at CIPS/Markit, Roy Ayliffe, said the manufacturing sector had 'crashed' in November. "This unparalleled blow is further heightened as the PMI readings have collapsed to new lows for three consecutive months now" he said. Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit Economics, added: "The scale of the downturn in the UK manufacturing PMI data during November was unprecedented". While it was difficult to find a bright spot in the data, there were signs that some of the pressure on the sector was being alleviated as raw materials costs fell. The Input Prices Index dropped to a reading of 44.2, driven by the first fall in raw material costs since July 2005. However, Ayliffe said even this was overshadowed by shrinking demand. He said though there was some relief as the cost of key commodities slumped, even this was another echo of dwindling global demand.