THE North-West’s economy underwent a further sharp contraction last month, according to the latest PMI Business Survey Data for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index registered 40.2, signalling the fifth-fastest rate of decline of any period covered by the survey, and extending the current sequence of contraction to six months.
Manufacturing output fell more sharply than services activity.
Philip McKinnon, economist at RBS, said: “Although the rate of decline in output moderated somewhat in February, the near term outlook remains very weak as new workloads continued to decline sharply.”
