Manufacturing rises to three-year high signalling solid start to the second quarter.
After a slack final quarter in 2016, Qimtek’s contract manufacturing index rose by 11% from 147 to a respectable 163. Continuing the trend, the index for April, and retrospectively the beginning of Q2, shows a value of 172 - an increase of 5.5% when compared to the first quarter.
These figures are reflected industry-wide as Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI) also rose to a three-year high of 57.3 in April, up from March’s four-month low of 54.2.
The start of the second quarter shows a solid improvement in the performance of the UK manufacturing sector. Rates of expansion in output, total new orders and new export work, all gathered pace, underpinned by robust business confidence and driving further job creation.
Qimtek’s Managing Director, Karl Wigart, sheds more light on the emerging trends in his latest CMI blog, covering in depth, the first quarter of 2017.