Business activity in Yorkshire and Humber is declining after a brief period of growth, an influential business survey suggests.
The NatWest Yorkshire & Humber PMI Business Activity Index, which measures change in the region鈥檚 manufacturing and service sectors, fell to a score of 48.3 in February, below the crucial 50.0 mark which separates growth from contraction. It had briefly moved into a positive score in January, but has fallen back at the same time that private sector nationally showed sustained growth.
The survey suggests a number of area of concerns, with Yorkshire and Humber showing the fastest rate of decline of the 12 monitored regions and nations of the 海角视频 in both new orders and employment. Despite that, business optimism in the area was slightly stronger than the national average.
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Business also said that costs remained stubbornly high and cited increased transport costs and greater wage pressures for weighing on their bottom lines.
Malcolm Buchanan, chair of the NatWest North Regional Board, said: 鈥淎fter a promising rebound at the start of the year, Yorkshire and Humber鈥檚 economy has slipped into contraction again. What鈥檚 noteworthy is the region鈥檚 divergence from the wider 海角视频 trend, which was of robust expansion in February, and suggests the national recovery from recession will be a disjointed one at the regional level.
鈥淥f concern are trends in employment and new business, which were the weakest seen across the 12 monitored parts of the 海角视频. Companies are also struggling with still-elevated inflation and are passing this on to customers despite the weakness in their sales performances. That said, a rebound in business confidence suggests companies are expecting this setback to be temporary.鈥
Further indicators of the health of the region鈥檚 economy will come with today鈥檚 release of official unemployment figures, while Wednesday will see the Office for National Statistics release data for January鈥檚 GDP at a national level.
