UK Jan manufacturing PMI drops to the lowest since June 2017

The manufacturing sector activity in the UK economy resumed its downtrend, falling unexpectedly in the month of January, the latest data from Markit revealed on Thursday.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in the UK arrived at 55.3 points in December, as compared to a previous 56.2 reading (revised lower from 56.3). Markets had predicted the PMI to tick higher to 56.5.

Key Points:    

The growth of output and new orders slow further.

Input cost and selling price inflation accelerate.

Rob Dobson of Markit commented in the release, “The UK manufacturing sector reported an unwelcome combination of slower growth and rising prices at the start of 2018. Encouragingly, despite the slowdown, the latest survey is consistent with production rising at a solid quarterly rate of around 0.6% in January, with jobs also being added at a faster pace. However, output growth has slowed sharply since last November’s high, and the more forward-looking new orders index has slipped to a seven-month low. The trend in demand will need to strengthen in the near-term to prevent further growth momentum being lost in the coming months.”