Business activity in the private sector in Wales declined in October, shows research from NatWest Bank.
Its Wales business activity index, a seasonally-adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the manufacturing and service sectors, registered 44.1 in October, significantly down from 51.3 in September. Anything below 50 denotes contraction.
The fall in output was the sharpest since May and was often linked by panellists to pressure on capacity following employee illness and reimposed local lockdowns.
Welsh private sector firms signalled a renewed decline in new orders in October, thereby ending two months of expansion. The drop in new business was attributed to reimposed lockdown restrictions across Wales and weaker demand from export destinations due to a resurgence in the virus.
The rate of decline was broadly in line with that across the 海角视频 as a whole.
Firms did, though, signal a stronger degree of confidence regarding the outlook for output over the coming 12 months. Greater optimism among Welsh companies was largely linked to hopes of an end to the pandemic and a return to pre-pandemic activity levels.
The degree of positive sentiment was higher than that seen across the 海角视频 as a whole.
October data signalled a slower, albeit still marked, decline in workforce numbers across the Welsh private sector. The rate of job-shedding was the softest since March, but firms continued to state that lower employment was due to redundancies and efforts to cut costs.
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The rate of contraction was among the fastest of the 12 monitored 海角视频 regions, slower than only the West Midlands and Scotland.
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The level of outstanding business rose in October for the first time in over a year, although only marginally. Panellists commonly linked the rise to greater pressure on capacity resulting from sickness among staff and the introduction of a temporary two-week lockdown across Wales.
Only Wales and Yorkshire and Humber registered increases in work-in-hand.
Welsh private sector firms signalled a steep increase in input prices in October as the rate of inflation quickened from that seen in September.