Good for factories, bad for shoppers: a Brexit pattern is emerging

The latest UK figures suggest a modest rebalancing of the economy of the kind long wished for by policymakers

The UK economy has settled down into a post EU-referendum pattern. Consumer spending is being constrained by the fall in the value of the pound, which has pushed up inflation by making imports dearer. But manufacturing has started to do better, in part because the weakness of sterling has made exports cheaper.

For many years, policymakers have longed wistfully for a rebalancing of the economy towards production rather than consumption. The latest survey of purchasing managers from CIPS/Markit shows that a modest re-adjustment is now under way.