Long-term confidence is strong despite Brexit uncertainty continuing to affect businesses in the region, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce has said.
Its latest Quarterly Economic Survey revealed a service-led growth in the second quarter, where first quarter growth was led by manufacturing output as some businesses stockpiled goods due to no-deal Brexit fears.
The Greater Manchester Index, a combination of seven key indicators taken from the survey, experienced a rise as it went up from 19.6 in Q1 to 26.7 in Q2.
The Chamber of Commerce’s head of research Subrahmaniam Krishnan-Harihara said: “The growth in manufacturing output that we saw in Q1 was probably due to the stockpiling of goods that we saw as a result over fears of a No Deal Brexit.
“We may see more of this as the government seeks to ensure the country has adequate stocks of essential goods such as medicine.”
Key findings of the survey revealed an increase in international sales in both manufacturing and the services sector and the construction sector continuing to perform well despite some city centre projects coming to an end.
He said: “Despite continuing fears over Brexit, long-term confidence in Greater Manchester remains strong, employment is rising and wages are growing.”
However, the survey revealed recruitment difficulties remained, particularly in the manufacturing and construction sector.
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“Unfortunately, of those employers that are recruiting report difficulties in finding qualified staff, more than 90 per cent of employers in the construction sector reported it as an issue.
“This difficulty in recruiting is worrying as it hampers economic growth.
“We have seen an increase in consumer spending, which is a major contributor to GDP.
Consumer spending has gone up slightly and there has been an increase in advance orders, the survey also showed.
“However, this will be affected in the next few months by the weather as a good summer always boosts the hospitality sector,” Mr Krishnan-Harihara added.