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Manufacturing output steady while orders slump
Manufacturing output was flat in the three months to September, a slight improvement on August. That’s according to the latest monthly CBI Industrial Trends Survey. The survey of 269 manufacturing firms revealed that both total order books and export order books were reported as below normal, and to a much greater extent than in August. Output volumes expanded in 9 of 17 sub-sectors in the quarter to September, with the food, drink & tobacco and mechanical engineering sub-sectors driving the positive contributions to growth. Meanwhile, the main drags on growth were the metal manufacture, metal products and ... (full story)