Manufacturing output rebounds with fastest growth for 16 months

Markit/Cips UK manufacturing PMI report shows export and domestic orders picking up, confounding economists' expectations

British manufacturers enjoyed a recovery in output and new orders last month, according to a survey that will raise hopes the sector is finally shrugging off its recession.

Manufacturers notched up the fastest growth in production for 16 months, according to the latest Markit/Cips UK manufacturing PMI. The report defied economists' expectations for a fall and instead jumped to 55.5 in October from an upwardly revised 51.8 in September. The consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of economists was for a 51.3 reading - barely above 50, the mark that separates growth from contraction.

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