The North West saw its strongest growth in business activity in over 24 years last month thanks to Covid restrictions being eased and a pick up in market demand.
According to the latest NatWest PMI report, there was a record build-up of backlogs spurring accelerated job creation, with strong growth recorded across both manufacturing and services.
The PMI figures track the monthly change in the output of goods and services across the private sector. Any figure over 50 shows growth, with higher figures signalling faster expansion.
That figure for the North West rose from 59.7 in April to an all-time high of 66.4 in May, also the highest reading among the 12 海角视频 regions monitored by the survey.
The good news came despite cost pressures facing the region's businesses continuing to build, which resulted in a record increase in goods and services prices.
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Richard Topliss, chairman of NatWest north regional board, said: "The further easing of restrictions in May, and the subsequent reopening of businesses and release of pent-up demand, led to a sharp increase in business activity across the North West private sector.
"The performance was not only the best we've seen in more than 24 years of data collection, but it also put the North West at the top regional rankings for activity growth, highlighting a broad-based revival across the local area.
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“The inpouring of new work led to an unprecedented build-up of backlogs, which is in turn having a positive effect on the region's labour market as businesses maintained a near-record rate of job creation to try to keep pace with demand.
"Less encouraging, however, is the news that cost pressures facing businesses continue to build, which has resulted in a record increase in goods and services prices. Still, business confidence is at a record high, underlining the region's resilience."
The report also detailed how firms recorded a sharp increase in inflows, citing the influence of looser virus containment measures, businesses reopening and improved confidence among customers.
May saw a continued improvement in business confidence towards activity over the coming year. The degree of optimism reached its highest since data on expectations were first collected in July 2012, surpassing the previous record set in May 2014.
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Anecdotal evidence pointed to growing hopes of an eventual end to virus-related restrictions, with a number of surveyed companies also commenting on planned business expansions, the PMI said.
As well as that, employment levels continued to recover across the North West in May, with workforce numbers rising for the third straight month and at the quickest rate since June 2014.