EEF NW comment on today’s PMI data

Commenting on today’s (1 November) PMI data, Darrell Matthews, Region Director for the North West at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “Today’s PMI continues the generally positive run of news on UK manufacturing activity over the past six months.

"While the headline index has dipped a little, it still points to a solid expansion in activity across the sector. Particularly encouraging is the strong showing in export demand. Manufacturers’ focus on developing new products and services to support their expansion into new export markets is making a strong contribution to this trend.

“Buoyant output across all sectors and an upbeat view of demand at home and in overseas markets bodes well for a sustained recovery in the fourth quarter and into 2014. While we expect to see a mild contraction in output overall for 2013, we are forecasting growth to bounce back to over 2% next year.”