British manufacturers reported a decline in orders at the start of the year on weaker demand for exports, the Industrial Trends Survey of the Confederation of British Industry showed Monday.
The order book balance of the survey dropped to -15 percent in January from -7 percent in the previous month. Economists had forecast a -10 reading.
The survey also showed that the balance of total new orders for the three months to January improved to -4 percent from -8 percent in the three months ended October.
Looking ahead, the expected order balance for the next quarter was +8 and output volume balance was +14. The employment outlook balance improved to +8 from -8.
“Manufacturers have seen a flat start to 2016 but while we have seen real problems in some industries in the last few months, there are signs that orders and production are stabilizing overall,” Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Director of Economics, said.
“Uncertainty around the prospects for global growth, uncompetitive energy costs and the strength of the pound have all played their part in UK manufacturers finding conditions tough when trying to sell overseas.”
The CBI survey was conducted among manufacturers between December 17 and January 13 and received 465 responses.
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