The Markit/Cips UK manufacturing PMI barometer of factory sentiment showed an average of 57 in the three months to December, in the strongest reading since the three months to June 2014. The jump comes as British factories benefit from a rise in economic growth in the eurozone and the wider world economy. The boom in global growth is helping to drag along the UK manufacturing sector, although economists at Barclays warned the PMI figures may indicate a waning share of world production from British firms. “Particularly telling is the growing gap between manufacturing momentum in the UK and the EA [euro area],” they said. The PMI survey gives an early indicator for economic growth before the release of official data from the ONS.

Source: The Guardian January 02, 2018 10:56 UTC