Industrial orders balance at UK manufacturers strongest in nearly two years - CBI survey

An industry survey by the Confederation of British Industry, an employers' lobby group, showed on Friday that the monthly industrial orders balance at UK manufacturers improved to 0 in December from -3 in November, highest level in 20 months. Industrial orders beat economists' expectations for a decline to -5.

Apart from reporting their strongest order books in nearly two years, manufacturers also plan to push up their prices sharply in early 2017 after this year's Brexit hit to sterling, the survey showed on Friday. Report showed that over a third of British manufacturers expect to raise their selling prices in the next three months, while just an 8 percent expect to lower them.

The CBI's data showed that while manufacturers' export orders fell slightly from the previous month, they remained firmly above the long-run average. The CBI's measure of export orders fell for a second month to -15 from -11 and expectations for overall output over the next three months eased slightly to +21 from +24.

"It’s good to see our manufacturers ending the year on a high note with growth in production the strongest since summer 2014 and total orders still robust," Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI's chief economist, said.