August saw solid rebounds in the trends in UK manufacturing output and incoming new orders. Companies reported solid inflows of new work from both domestic and export sources, the latter aided by the sterling exchange rate. Employment rose for the first time in the year-to-date. At 53.3 in August, the seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI® ) recovered sharply from the 41-month low of 48.3 posted in July following the EU referendum. The month-on-month increase in the level of the headline PMI (5.0 points) was the joint-greatest in the near 25-year survey history. The gains in the indices ... (full story)