Britain’s factories suffered their worst month on record in April as production, employment and order books all fell at unprecedented rates, according to a key survey today.
The closely watched PMI Index for the manufacturing sector dropped from 47.8 in March to an all-time low of 32.6 in April. This is even bleaker than the 32.9 reading in the preliminary “flash” estimate published last week.
Any reading below 50 points to a contraction in activity.
Rob Dobson, director at researchers IHS Markit which compiles the survey, said: “Huge swathes of industry were hit hard by company closures, weak global demand, lockdowns and social distancing measures in response to Covid-19. The only pockets of growth were seen at firms making medical and food products.”
However, Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, which is also involved in drawing up the survey, said as production ramped up again in the Far East “the sector remained optimistic that in a year’s time the operating environment will resemble some new normality”. There was also more upbeat news from the property sector where house prices rose 3.7 per cent in the year to April, according to latest figures from lender Nationwide.
This was the fastest growth since February 2017 although the figure was largely based on mortgage applications before the lockdown.
Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner said he was hopeful the market would avoid the traumatic collapses associated with previous recessions. He said emergency measures such as the furlough scheme should help lessen the impact on housing. Meanwhile, consumers paid off more credit card and loan debt, £3.8 billion, during March than any month on record.
