UK May final manufacturing PMI 47.1 vs 46.9 prelim

• Prior 47.8

A mild revision higher to the initial estimate but the headline reading is still a 4-month low. Output contracts once again with the fall in new orders and employment both accelerating. S&P Global notes that:

“The UK manufacturing downturn deepened in May, with output, new orders and employment all falling at increased rates. Manufacturers are finding that any potential boost to production from improving supply chains is being completely negated by weak demand, client destocking and a general shift in spending in the UK away from goods to services. These factors are also driving a broad decrease in demand from overseas amid reports of lost orders from the US and mainland Europe. The retrenchment in export demand is also being exacerbated by some EU clients switching to more local sourcing to avoid post-Brexit trade complications. “

Although near-term conditions remain challenging overall, manufacturers are still finding reasons for optimism including brighter news on the price and supply fronts. Average input costs fell for the first time in three-and-a-half years, allowing some firms to maintain efforts to repair and protect margins damaged by a long and often severe period of cost inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term. The recent healing in global supply chains is also continuing apace, with lead times shortening to a near record extent in May.”