Orders at highest level since March 1995
British industrial output jumped to an 18-year high in October, as order books swelled and manufacturers signalled that a broad-based recovery was bedding in.
The Confederation of British Industry said this week that rising domestic and overseas demand helped total orders grow to the highest level since March 1995.
The Confederation of British Industry said this week that rising domestic and overseas demand helped total orders grow to the highest level since March 1995.
Orders in mechanical engineering, Britain’s fourth largest industrial sector, were at their highest since records began in 1978, while 13 of the 15 industrial sub-sectors reported a rise.
The CBI’s survey of 350 manufacturers also showed output volumes in the three months to November rose at their fastest rate since January 1995. Growth was widespread, with electrical engineering the only sector to see a decline.
“This new evidence shows encouraging signs of a broadening and deepening recovery,” said Stephen Gifford, the CBI’s director of economics. But he warned that “challenges remain”, with UK exporters in need of government support to break into high growth export markets “to reduce their vulnerability to any further eurozone flare-ups”.
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