UK Manufacturing Sector Under Strain

Manufacturers in the UK cut jobs and output at a record pace in February, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), BBC News reports. The PMI showed employment and output levels at their lowest since the survey began in 1992. The index fell to 34.7 last month from 35.8 in January. Analysts had forecast a more modest fall to just 35.0. Any figure below 50 indicate a contraction, and February’s results means the sector has now contracted for 10 months in a row.

Separately, a report from industry body EEF, a manufacturers organization, said that 140,000 manufacturing jobs could be lost this year. The EEF’s survey found production and orders had hit record lows during the first two months of 2009.

The survey, which canvassed 782 firms, forecast that UK manufacturing output would fall by 8.6% in 2009, with a growth of just 0.2% in 2010. As well as a decline in manufacturing output, engineering output is set to shrink by 10.9% this year and rise by 0.9% next year, the EEF added.