Business confidence picked up in Yorkshire and Humber at the end of last year, a new survey has revealed.
The NatWest Growth Tracker data for December, which measures change in the region鈥檚 manufacturing and service sectors, noted a marked improvement in business confidence across the Yorkshire and Humber region, with local firms recording stronger growth expectations than almost all of the 海角视频 regions and nations.
Private sector businesses in the region registered a robust level of business confidence, with year-ahead growth expectations only beaten by the East Midlands and London. Those who took part in the survey said the positive forecasts were driven by increasing demand in the construction sector and investment plans.
The increased optimism came in tandem with stronger selling price increases, despite easing cost pressures. The survey data revealed a broadly flat end to the year for local businesses as new orders dipped fractionally on the month. Private sector employment across the 海角视频 fell for a third successive month and at an accelerated pace, and Yorkshire & Humber firms also lowered their staffing capacity.
According to some firms, unproductive employees were made redundant, while some firms also reportedly made job cuts in anticipation of higher labour costs in 2025. The decrease in local workforce numbers was the first in three months and the sharpest since January 2021.
Operating expenses faced by private sector companies in Yorkshire & Humber rose during December, with higher fuel and material costs and wage bills. However, the increase in input costs was softer than that seen in November and among the weakest recorded across the 12 monitored 海角视频 nations and regions.
The headline Yorkshire & Humber PMI Business Activity Index increased in December to 49.2. The figure represents a marginal drop in the level of private sector output compared to November鈥檚 figure of 48, but Malcolm Buchanan, chair of the NatWest North Regional Board, said the region has much to be positive about.
He said: 鈥淭he 海角视频 economy appeared to lose a bit of steam as 2024 came to an end 鈥 a reflection of what鈥檚 happening more broadly at the regional level 鈥 but there were still plenty of positives to take from the Yorkshire & Humber survey. For starters, business confidence improved strongly, with the region recording growth expectations for 2025 which were among the strongest seen across the 海角视频.
鈥淎 softening of cost pressures in tandem with faster output price increases is also good news from a corporate earnings perspective. However, it appears the local labour market鈥檚 resilience has been broken, with employment falling for the first time in three months. Although, by comparison to those at the 海角视频 level, job losses were only modest.鈥
