It seems a long time since George Osborne spoke of “a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers” (it was in fact his 2011 Budget) and the latest official report suggests that the sector is still lagging behind rather than carrying the economy forward.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that manufacturing fell by 0.9% and production fell by 1.3% between September and October this year.
This was described by Lee Hopley, Chief Economist at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, as a fairly hefty contraction and she said that it was certainly not the start to the fourth quarter that the industry expected to see.
“Output falls appear fairly widespread across subsectors,” she explained, “but falls in pharmaceuticals, textiles and food were responsible for much of the drop over the month.”
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady was also disappointed by the latest figures which were, she suggested, a reminder of the challenges ahead next year, especially in the light of Brexit.
“When the manufacturing sector grows, it creates good jobs across the whole of the UK. So support for the sector should be a bigger priority for the government as part of a more comprehensive industrial strategy in 2017,” she went on.
The current Chancellor had said the right things about higher investment in the Autumn Statement, Ms O’Grady argued, but failed to back his words with a sufficiently robust investment package.
On a more positive note, Ms Hopley highlighted underlying resilience in the domestic market and a brightening outlook overseas as reasons for optimism.
