"UK manufacturing continued to hit the high notes in November. It looks as if the strong recovery in the sector is translating into meaningful job creation."
- Rob Dobson, Markit economist
The Pound hit the highest level in 27 months against the U.S. Dollar, advancing to 1.6441 after a survey from Markit showed manufacturing activity expanded at the highest pace since February 2011, suggesting the recovery is maintaining momentum in the final quarter. Activity in one of the key pillars of Britain's economy remained highly above the contraction line in November, with manufacturing PMI standing at 58.4 from a revised 56.5 in the preceding month and beating analysts expectations of 56.1 points. The employment sub-index climbed to 54.5 over the same period, compared with 51.9 recorded in the prior month.
Also Monday the official data showed that lending to households and companies increased at the fastest pace since the credit-easing scheme was launched in June 2012. Net lending under the Funding for Lending scheme reached 5.8 billion pounds over the quarter to September, up from 1.6 billion in the previous quarter, reflecting solid improvement in credit conditions.
In terms of the future outlook, the central bank now predicts growth to rise at an even faster pace in the fourth quarter of this year, even though the GDP is still likely to remain below the pre-crisis levels. The BoE currently expects a 0.9% expansion in the fourth quarter.
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