THE manufacturing recovery received a surprise boost today after a survey showed that demand from overseas helped lift orders this month.
Economists described the latest findings from employers’ organisation the CBI as reassuring, after the business group reported that a balance of 1% of manufacturers said order books were above normal, up from minus 10% a month ago.
This was driven by an improvement in exports, which were seen as being broadly at normal levels, while expectations for growth over the next quarter rose for the first time since March.
One business enjoying growth is car maker Jaguar Land Rover, which earlier this month revealed a 4.9% jump in second -quarter sales, compared with the previous year, helped by strong demand from China and Russia for its products, including the Freelander 2 Land Rover, built at its Halewood plant, in Knowsley.
The survey was welcome news after a raft of gloomy data that showed that the sector has slowed in recent months, giving rise to fears that the Government’s plans for an export-led recovery were failing to gain momentum.
However, the CBI warned that the sector still faced a growing threat as stock market volatility hit business confidence, amid fears of a global recession.
Richard Woolhouse, CBI’s head of fiscal policy, said: “Manufacturing order books are holding up, and expectations for output growth are above their historical average, although they are less strong than earlier this year.
“But the risks to manufacturing activity and business confidence have, if anything, increased, due to market volatility and the recalibration of growth expectations worldwide.
“Concerns around growth in the US and the Euro area present further challenges to the manufacturing recovery.”
The survey also showed inflationary pressures have continued to ease after strong price rises in the first half of 2011 and remain “fairly modest”.
A balance of 9% of manufacturers expect to raise prices over the next three months, which is up on the 4% last month, but below the figures of more than 30% seen in the first half of the year.
Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics, said: “August’s survey provides a bit of reassurance that the recovery in the manufacturing sector has not completely petered out.”
