- Rob Dobson, Markit
British manufacturing activity expanded at the slowest pace since November 2016 last month, a private survey revealed on Wednesday. Markit reported its PMI for the UK manufacturing sector dropped to a seasonally adjusted 54.6 points in February, while the preceding month's reading was revised up from 55.7 to 55.9 points. Market analysts anticipated a slighter decrease to 55.6 last month. Nevertheless, any reading above the 50 point level indicates industry expansion. Moreover, Markit said that production and new order growth remained solidly above the long-term average of 51.6 points. The figures suggested that the weaker Pound, which dropped around 12% since the Brexit vote, helped to boost sales for some manufacturing sector participants last month. The survey suggests that manufacturing output growth is likely to approach the 1.5% mark in the first quarter of 2017, which would be the best reading in the last seven years. However, some analysts claim that a high growth rate could not be maintained in the long-term. Data also showed employment rose for the seventh consecutive month in February, with job gains posted by businesses of different sizes. After the release, the British Pound fell against other major currencies, trading at 0.8521 against the Euro and 1.2371 against the Greenback.
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