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British manufacturing growth tumbled to its lowest level in eight months in February as manufacturers were weighed down by Brexit uncertainty and a stronger pound.
The IHS Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped to 55.2 in February, down from 55.3 in January. That is its second-lowest reading since the June 2016 Brexit vote. A figure above 50 indicates growth.
IHS Markit said the figures suggested output growth so far this year had slowed sharply to a three-monthly rate of 0.4 percent, compared with a strong 1.3 percent in the last three months of 2017.
Manufacturing was boosted last year by a combination of stronger global growth and the cheaper pound but surveys across the world have reported a slower pace of growth this year.
In the UK output growth slowed during February, the most recent survey said, but new orders picked up pace.
The growth of the sector also led to rising manufacturing employment as businesses sought to keep capacity growing along with sales, but companies also reported shortages of key components and rising costs for commodities and raw materials.
Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the trend revealed that the currency dividend from the Brexit vote, which led to a steep fall in sterling's value, had waned and British goods were no longer as cheap abroad as they were last year. A slowdown in growth across the eurozone last year had also played a part in British companies experiencing lower growth, Tombs said.
