UK manufacturing sector registers worst performance in years

Factories suffered decline in growth of domestic orders in February coupled with a second month of falling exports

Britain's factories suffered a decline in growth of domestic orders in February which, coupled with a second month of falling exports, saw them register their worst performance in almost three years.

The weakening picture, which also saw a second month of declining employment, comes after George Osborne warned of a cocktail of threats and gathering storm clouds in the world economy wreaking havoc on global trade.

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