East Mids economy gaining strength, says PMI
The East Midlands economy "regained momentum" in September, according to the latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) statistics, revealed this morning. The region reported a near-record rise in employment over the month, which the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce told Insider was a feature it expected to continue rising.
Max Boden, policy and representation manager at the chamber, said that a surge in demand for skilled workers was something he had witnessed from companies in the county.
"We are definitely building strength in the number of businesses recruiting," he said. "I think we'll see another rise in employment over the next few months."
According to the PMI statistics, which are produced in conjunction with Lloyds TSB, rising workload led to a "near-record" level of job creation.
The survey, which measures the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – rebounded to 55.5 from 51.8 to signal a 29th successive rise in output.
Higher activity was recorded across both sectors, with respondents indicating that increased new business was the main driver of growth.
But in spite of the rise, backlogs of work continued to fall as output growth outpaced that of new orders.
Roger Galbraith, area director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in the East Midlands and Lincolnshire, said: "The welcome rebound in new orders and the re-acceleration of output growth in September indicate that last month’s data may have been a blip. Moreover, job creation has now been sustained throughout the past year.
"The expansion in activity was the sharpest of all UK regions, suggesting that companies in the East Midlands are faring better than their counterparts in other parts of the country amid fragile economic conditions."
Boden added: "It's inevitable that businesses in the region will be affected by the global economic crisis that is emerging currently – but we are a lot better placed than most regions to deal with it, and the results of the PMI seem to back this up In fact, I think these results show that we are in better shape than before the recession.
"The East Midlands has a huge spread of unique, indivisible strengths. It's a very robust region, and I think we will continue to see improvements."
