LONDON: British manufacturers enjoyed a pickup in business last month but they relied on domestic demand as exports fell against the backdrop of a troubled eurozone and stronger pound.
A closely watched survey showed factories continued to enjoy a bounceback after slow finish to 2014. But details showed little progress in the government’s push to rebalance the economy away from over-reliance on domestic consumer demand.
The main balance rose to a seven-month high of 54.1 in February’s Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI. That was up from 53.1 in January and well above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction. It was also higher than the 53.4 consenus forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
