The coronavirus pandemic took another massive toll on companies and the economy in May, new figures show - but many businesses were more optimistic about the future as looser lockdown restrictions came in.
The latest NatWest Regional PMI figures, which measure the economic health of the 海角视频’s nations and regions, show that following record contractions in business activity in April the rates of decline eased in most areas - but remained at near record lows.
The PMI Business Activity Index rates regions on a points-based scale, where any reading above 50 shows growth and any below 50 shows contraction.
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The highest reading for May was 33.4 for the East of England - and even that is the second-lowest figure for the region since records began 23 years ago.
The worst figure was in Northern Ireland at 18.9. Scotland was next with a reading of 21.1, with its index figure showing the smallest rebound since April.
The steepest contraction was in the West Midlands, at 27.9, followed by the South West (28.1) and Yorkshire & Humber and the North East (both 28.9), with all four below the 海角视频 average.
The highest index figure was seen in the East of England at 33.4 - but even that was the second-lowest since records began in 1997. The biggest increase on April was in the East Midlands, where the figure rose more than 19 points to 32.6.
The research showed that firms in most areas were more optimistic than in April about the outlook for the coming year, with Yorkshire & Humber the most confident area and the South West and North East also showing improvements. The only exception was Northern Ireland.
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Employment fell sharply across all regions in May. The slowest fall was in the North West, followed by Scotlamnd and Northern Ireland.
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Sebastian Burnside, NatWest chief economist, said: "Business activity remained severely inhibited across the 海角视频 in May. But what we're seeing from the regional PMIs are perhaps the first signs of the impact of looser lockdown restrictions on regional economic performance.
“Rates of decline have started to ease in all areas, but the most notable slowdowns since April have all been in the regions of England. At the other end of the scale, Scotland and Northern Ireland have not only recorded the deepest slumps in activity, but have also seen the littlest improvement in their respective rates of decline.
"However, encouragingly for both Scotland and Northern Ireland, so far the data indicate less severe impacts on their respective labour markets in terms of outright job losses. How businesses eventually transition away from the government's job retention scheme is going to be key, but smaller declines in employment now can only boosts the chances of a quicker recovery when demand starts to pick up.
"Firms are likely to be more inclined to retain staff if they can begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel, so it's encouraging to see that business confidence has improved in most areas."