据彭博。星期三，Markit经济学和特许采购和供应研究所reported that the purchasing managers’ index for the U.K. manufacturing sector was down to 52.1 in May from 54.4 the previous month, marking the lowest level since September 2009. The drop continued the trend of slowing growth since the high mark on the PMI of 61.6 that was recorded in January, when the sector’s growth was seen at a 17-year high of 6.6% year-over-year.
该报告表明，一些放缓可能是由于临时因素，例如复活节周围的银行假期和皇家婚礼。尽管如此，Joost Beaumont.的ABN AMRO.说：“总的来说，这份报告指出了制造业的速度减缓了，”补充说每日电报。安德鲁古德温的安永会议俱乐部说，“这些结果将引发对恢复可持续性的真正关注。”这一跌幅由新订单和2009年中旬以来的第一次下降导致，对一些经济学家来说，对经济是否足够强大的令人怀疑英格兰银行开始提高利率。