The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey in March indicated marginal falls in both output and order books.
The worst performing sector of the manufacturing economy in March was the intermediate goods sector, where output fell sharply on the back of contracting order books. Firms reported that demand had been hit both at home and abroad and that, in particular, the downturn in the market for semi-conductors had adversely affected their book orders.
Overall, firms reported that contraction in export markets reflected global economic slowdown, and pointed to the knock-on effects that the US downturn has had, not only on orders to the US, but also to other countries affected by lower US demand.
The manufacturing workforce was reduced for the seventeenth month running as firms sough to increase efficiency and productivity.
Source: Report on Manufacturing, NTC Research
