EEF NW comment on GDP data

Commenting on today’s GDP data, David Ost, North West Region Director for EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “This is good news for the economy with positive data from almost all parts of the economy. This has been something of a rarity in recent years and the more even contributions from services, manufacturing and construction is particularly welcome.

“For manufacturing, this should signal the start of a gradual improvement in output and orders books through the rest of this year. Indeed better news on eurozone activity this week gives further cause for a bit of optimism for manufacturers and exporters but, importantly, we need to see output growth followed by a turnaround in business investment in the coming quarters. While we have some growth as last, the focus for policy makers still needs to be on ensuring it’s also sustainable.”