The UK manufacturing sector contracted for the second successive month in March, as companies scaled back production in response to lacklustre demand from both domestic and overseas markets. The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Purchasing Manager’s Index® (PMI®) edged higher to 48.3 in March, an improvement on February’s four-month low of 47.9 but insufficient to raise the headline index back above the neutral mark of 50.0. The average reading over Q1 2013 as a whole (49.0) was slightly below that for the final quarter of last year (49.2). UK manufacturers reported further declines in both production and new orders ... (full story)