U.K. Manufacturing Sector Edges Toward Expansion

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By Trey Thoelcke Published

78489302After reporting a strong PMI figure for China, Markit posted slightly positive numbers for the United Kingdom, a sign that its austerity, unemployment and lack of demand for goods and services from Europe have not taken an awful toll. Markit reports:

Business conditions in the UK manufacturing sector edged closer to stabilisation in November, as levels of new work held broadly steady and production posted a modest increase. However, trends in output were uneven across the sector, with contractions at capital and intermediate goods producers offsetting strong growth in the consumer goods sector.

At 49.1 in November, up from October’s three-month low of 47.3, the seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) remained below the neutral 50.0 mark for the seventh straight month. The average reading so far in Q4 2012 (48.2) is slightly above that recorded for Q3 (47.8).

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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