Today’s Manufacturing PMI from S&P Global shows that manufacturing production has fallen for the first time in six months. Build it and they will – oh wait…
“The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index posted 51.0 in March, down from 51.7 in February and below the flash estimate of 51.4. The PMI has remained above the neutral 50.0 mark for five successive months.”
General uncertainty, Iran, and lower levels of confidence in the year ahead are all blamed for that. Business optimism for production has fallen to its lowest level since September last year, S&P’s Future Output Index suffered the steepest one-month fall in a year. Blamed also was “ongoing uncertainty about domestic government policy.” Small manufacturers have the least positive outlook as production sectors all clock decreased sentiment. Here’s an idea for Reeves: cancel the Employment Rights Act, reverse the last two Budgets of tax hikes and public sector pay deals, and take a long holiday…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”