Continued growth in West Mids - PMI report
The West Midlands is still experiencing "continuing growth in the region's private sector", a survey has found. However, the number of new orders has been growing at its lowest rate since August 2009.
Lloyds TSB's latest West Midlands purchasing managers' index (PMI) was recorded at 54.3 in July – falling marginally from 54.8 in June. It had been 54.0 in May.
The reading extended the current sequence of output growth to 25 months and was broadly in line with the UK average (54.4), the researchers said.
The study found that backlogs fell for the sixth successive month but the increase rate in new orders was at its slowest for 23 months. Job creation was said to have remained "relatively robust" while inflationary pressures eased for the third month running.
David Garbutt, area director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in the West Midlands, said: "West Midlands private sector activity increased again during July but at a slower rate than the trend seen over the first half of 2011.
"The region continues to benefit from rising output in the manufacturing sector, which is helping to offset the recent deteriorations in services activity.
"The overall rate of job creation meanwhile, slowed during July, as new order growth weakened and backlogs of work fell for the sixth month running. One bright spot in the July survey was lower input price inflation in the region, although lower cost pressures offer a little comfort given the ongoing slowdown in global economic growth."
