Britain's manufacturing sector contracted for an 11th month running in January but the pace of decline eased, a survey reported today.
The report, compiled by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and sponsored by
Reuters
, showed the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) - a measure of manufacturing activity - crept up to 46.4 from 45.2 in December.
It was the highest reading for three months and better than the 45.8 average forecast of economists polled by Reuters.
The report echoed the ReutersEurozone PMI, released a little earlier, showing a jump to a better-than-expected 46.2 and appearing to indicate the worst may also be over for the bloc's manufacturers.
But, despite the improvement in the British index, it remained firmly below the critical no-change mark of 50.0, signalling continued contraction for the recession-bound manufacturing sector.
The survey offers some hope that manufacturing may be starting to stabilise, but not much more than that, said Mr Jeremy Hawkins, economist at Bank of America in London.
He also noted that the weak prices measure in the report, which hit its lowest level for nearly three years, could push British inflation even lower and make it difficult for the Bank of England to raise interest rates soon.