British manufacturers registered an improvement in total and export orders in December, the Industrial Trends survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday.
The industrial order balance rose to -7 percent in December from -11 percent in November. It was better than the expected score of -10 percent.
Likewise, the export order balance improved to -18 percent from -29 percent.
Over the next three months, 19 percent expect output volumes to rise and 24 percent to fall, giving a balance of -5 percent – similar to last month’s expectation.
“Manufacturers are still having a tough time of it with output slipping and exports remaining a weak spot in spite of an improvement at the end of the year,” Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Director of Economics, said.
“But there is a pick-up in orders from previous months which could be a sign of light at the end of the tunnel.”
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com