UK factory activity growth revised up in December – PMI

A worker in a protective suit operates a machine inside the Envision battery manufacturing plant at Nissan’s Sunderland factory, Britain, July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble

LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) – British manufacturing grew slightly more quickly than originally thought in December and pandemic-related supply chain problems eased a bit, taking some of the heat out of rising input prices, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The final reading of the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI for December stood at 57.9, up from a preliminary reading of 57.6 and not far off November’s three-month high of 58.1.

Rob Dobson, director at IHS Markit, said the recovery was still weaker than in mid-2021 due to ongoing supply chain constraints and weak exports which were affected by Brexit-related problems and the prospect of further COVID restrictions.

Growth in jobs slowed but new orders and output rose at a faster pace than in November, the survey showed.

Despite the easing of strong inflation pressures, with input prices rising at their slowest pace in three months, prices charged by factories rose at their fastest pace on record.

Britain’s economic recovery from its 2020 coronavirus slump has slowed due to the pandemic’s hit to global supply chains and more recently the impact of the Omicron variant on the country’s hospitality and leisure sectors.

Reporting by William Schomberg and Andy Bruce; Editing by Hugh Lawson

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