EEF comments on PMI figures out today
Commenting on today’s PMI figures, Ms Lee Hopley, chief economist at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “Today’s PMI confirms that the UK manufacturing sector has seen a positive start to the year with accelerating activity raising hopes that output and employment growth will continue in 2015.
“The trends are particularly positive for consumer goods sectors, suggesting that the boost to demand resulting from the drop in the oil price is good news for many manufacturers. However, the PMI also confirms the challenges facing some manufacturers in the oil and gas supply chain – this chimes with our own quarterly findings which show that the impact is particularly evident in order books in the North West and North East regions.
“The persistent weakness in the export component is disappointing but, with small signs of improvement in activity in parts of Europe, a turnaround could be on the horizon.“
