UK manufacturers lift 2023 outlook, boosted by aircraft and electronics
|Britain's main manufacturing trade body Make UK revised its outlook for this year on Monday, per Reuters. The news also cites demand for aircraft and electronics as the main catalysts while adding that it still expects production to fall over the year as a whole.
Reuters said, “Make UK said it expected factory output to fall 0.3% this year compared with a 3.3% contraction expected three months earlier, and kept unchanged its forecast for 0.8% growth in 2024.”
Together with the economic forecasts, the Make UK Senior Economist James Brougham said, "Manufacturers are seeing a gradually improving picture, but the word 'gradually' is doing a lot of heavy lifting."
Key quotes
The improved but still sluggish outlook chimes with the picture for the broader economy, which has avoided a widely forecast recession and which Make UK expects will grow 0.4% this year and 1.3% in 2024.
Manufacturers reported modest order growth and plan a marked step-up in hiring. Aerospace had been boosted by a resumption of travel and aircraft orders after the COVID-19 pandemic, while demand for electronics partly reflected businesses' desire to counter labor shortages.
Difficulties in sourcing materials were a major factor behind the initial run-up in British inflation before Russia invaded Ukraine, but many economists had judged these were fading.
GBP/USD struggles to cheer the good news
Despite the recent positive news, GBP/USD retreats from an intraday high to 1.2825 as the Cable bulls take a breather at the highest levels since April 2022.
Also read: GBP/USD Weekly Forecast: Eyes on 1.2870 key resistance ahead of BoE policy announcements
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