LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK manufacturers reported a slower growth in August amid rising constraints caused by supply chain issues, final survey results from IHS Markit showed on Wednesday.
The final IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a five-month low of 60.3, a tick below July's 60.4. The flash reading was 60.1.
Manufacturing output increased again in August, albeit to the weakest extent since February. Incoming new business expanded, reflecting increased inflows from both domestic and overseas markets.
Confidence among manufacturers rose to a three-month high on expectations of continued economic revival, stronger global demand, investment plans and hopes that current supply issues would either lessen or even be fully resolved.
Data showed that employment rose for the eighth month in a row and to one of the greatest extents in the survey history.
Price inflationary pressures continued to build in the manufacturing sector. Average purchase prices rose at the fourth-fastest rate in the survey history. Manufacturers were able to pass on a part of the increase in costs to clients in August.
'A wide range of factors contributed to the disruption, including port capacity issues, international shipping delays, the re-imposition of COVID restrictions at some key points in global supply networks and ongoing issues post-Brexit,' Rob Dobson, director at IHS Markit, said.
With all of these factors likely to persist for the foreseeable future, manufacturing could well see a further growth slowdown in the coming months, Dobson added.
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