UK manufacturers reported faster output and order growth in October, lifting S&P Global’s final purchasing managers’ index to a five-month high, while manufacturing employment growth stalled and input-cost inflation accelerated.
S&P Global’s seasonally adjusted Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.8 from 51.9 in September, in line with the flash estimate. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in surveyed business conditions. The PMI tracks company reports and is not an official measure of factory production.
The survey’s output index advanced to 53.6 from 51.5, its highest level since September 2024. New orders grew at their fastest pace since July. Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the two growth measures had accelerated as companies responded to “signs of improving demand.”
That activity came alongside a weaker jobs picture and rising cost pressure. Manufacturers recorded no further employment growth after six months of expansion. Input-cost inflation reached its fastest pace since June, while supplier delivery times lengthened by one of the largest amounts in four years.
FXStreet reported GBP/USD near $1.3420 at 5:44 a.m. ET (10:44 UTC) Monday, after the pair earlier reached a session high just below $1.3450. The outlet described the earlier level as a two-week high.
S&P Global gathered survey responses from Oct. 12-27, before the government’s Oct. 28 Budget. The results therefore predate the Budget and provide no post-announcement reading. The pound’s move amid improving UK survey readings echoed a pattern covered in EconoTimes’ Oct. 23 coverage of sterling slipping as broader activity data strengthened. That earlier report focused on S&P Global’s composite output index, while the October data here cover manufacturing.
At its September meeting, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee held Bank Rate at 3.75% in a 6-3 vote. Three of the nine members favored a 0.25 percentage-point increase to 4%. The bank’s next policy decision is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5.
