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UK factories feel pinch from global economy as export orders fall
British manufacturers had their weakest month in over two years and export orders suffered a rare decline in August, a warning that a world economic slowdown, as well as the approach of Brexit, is weighing on the country’s factories, a survey showed. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 52.8, its lowest level since July 2016, immediately after the Brexit vote, and a lot weaker than a median forecast of 53.8 in a Reuters poll of economists. Sterling weakened against the dollar and the euro after the data, and economists said that the prospect of leaving the European Union ... (full story)