"The sector found some stability at the very end of 2012"
- Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd.
Activity in Britain's factories rose for the first time since March, indicating some strength in the economy at the end of 2012. According to the Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, a gauge of factory activity soared to 51.4 in December, up from a revised 49.2 in November. The activity grew at its fastest pace since September 2011 and beat analysts' expectations, which projected a reading of 49.1, unchanged from November's initially reported level. In the meantime, the U.K. economy is widely expected to shrink by 0.1% in the last three months of 2012, however, stronger-than-expected data raised the prospect that the economy will avoid contraction.
"The sector found some stability at the very end of 2012," said Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London. Still, "with the recession in the euro zone set to deepen and consumers at home on course to be hit by a further bout of relatively high inflation, 2013 is shaping up to be another tough year for U.K. manufacturers."
"The sector is far from out of the woods. The decline in new export orders demonstrates that challenging global economic conditions and the euro-zone crisis continue to act as a drag," said David Noble, chief executive of CIPS.
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