UK manufacturing growth starts to slip

Growth in the UK manufacturing industry appeared to slip during August with the Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers index showing a reduction from 56.9 in July to 54.3 in August. While anything over 50 indicates growth in the sector, the figure of 54.3 is well below economist's forecasts of 57. Therefore it looks as though growth in the UK manufacturing sector, which had been picking up over the last few months, may well be starting to slow again.

In many ways the manufacturing industry was put forward as a potential growth area for the UK economy and one which would inevitably drag the rest of the UK higher. However, the apparent slowdown in growth in the sector is a major issue for the UK authorities who are looking to place something on a gloss over difficult economic times ahead for the UK.

Time and time again we have seen analysts and economists forecast proving to be very different from the real situation on the ground. Again, this is a reflection of the very difficult and very challenging UK economic environment which is proving almost impossible to predict. Forthcoming public sector investment spending cuts are unlikely to help the manufacturing industry in the future.