Manufacturers ride out Brexit with jump in output
Britain's manufacturers brushed off the Brexit vote to put a spring in their step last month, with output hitting its highest level for more than two years.
The latest Markit/Cips purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – where a reading above 50 indicates growth – reached 55.4 in September, up from 53.4 in August.
It was the best output performance since June 2014, and a significant improvement since the index fell to 48.3 in July, the first month after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Rob Dobson, senior economist at IHS Markit, said: “The rebound over the past two months has been encouragingly strong, and puts the sector on course to provide a further positive contribution to GDP in the third quarter (to end-September).”
The survey said exports were helped by the fall in the value of the pound against the dollar and euro in the wake of the Brexit vote.