Unemployment up in August - PMI
The East Midlands experienced its first fall in employment last month since February. According to the latest Purchasing Mangers’ Index (PMI), new orders in the private sector rose only slightly and staffing levels decreased.
The region had the slowest rise in new business in the current 11-month period of expansion.
However, the rate of growth was marked, despite slowing to the weakest since January, and was still stronger than the average for the UK economy as a whole. According to respondents, higher output reflected increased new business, as well as attempts by manufacturers to build stocks of finished goods. Both manufacturing and services also recorded expansions of activity.
Input cost inflation in the East Midlands remained strong in August, despite slowing for the fourth month running. Higher raw material costs were the main reason for the rise, with input prices increasing more quickly at manufacturers than at service providers.
The PMI, which is sponsored by the East Midlands Development Agency (Emda), is a monthly survey of selected private sector companies to provide an indication of what is happening across both the manufacturing and service sectors.
