Fra Markit – læs hele meddelelsen her
A deterioration in growth of new orders suggests that the rate of expansion could slow again in August. Measured across both sectors, July saw the smallest increase in new orders since October 2016.
Factory order book inflows were the lowest for nearly two years while service sector new business gains were the second-lowest for a year-and-a-half. For factories, the slowdown in order book growth was partly due to weakened export gains, with new export orders registering the smallest monthly rise since August 2016, the rate of increase having
slowed sharply since the buoyant pace recorded earlier in the year.
The reduced inflow of new orders meant companies saw backlogs of uncompleted work grow at a slower pace. The July survey recorded the smallest accumulation of outstanding work since September 2016. Slower growth of backlogs often leads to a reduction in hiring, and employment growth moderated commensurately in July.
The overall rate of job creation nonetheless remained strong by the standards of the survey over the past 20 years, running only marginally below that seen in the first half of the year to suggest that firms generally remained firmly in hiring mode. However, in a further sign that growth of output and hiring may continue to slow, future expectations of business activity slipped to a 20-month low.
