Published : November 28, 2008

UK Business Investment, 3rd Quarter 2008 

Provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that manufacturing investment in “other capital equipment” (total investment minus spending on new buildings and vehicles) was -2.3% lower than in the 2nd quarter and -5.3% lower than in the 3rd quarter of 2007.  On the same basis, total investment by the Engineering and Vehicles sector is estimated to have grown by +10.9% quarter-on-quarter and to be +8.3% higher than a year earlier.  All the trends are for seasonally adjusted volume measures.  Copies of the ONS News Release are available on their web-site at www.ons.gov.uk or on request from MTA. 

UK Output, Income and Expenditure, 3rd Quarter 2008 

This release from the ONS updates the initial estimates for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the economy - this can be measured in 3 ways, hence the title of this release, with the initial estimates published a month ago based only on output estimates.  The latest figures show no change in the previous estimates, with GDP -0.5% lower than in the 2nd quarter and at a level which is only +0.3% higher than a year ago.  Copies of the ONS News Release are available on their web-site at www.ons.gov.uk or on request from MTA. 

CBI Industrial Trends Survey, November 2008 

The results of the latest CBI monthly survey show that the prospects for output have deteriorated rapidly, with manufacturers expecting the sharpest contraction in production since the 1980 recession.  Order books are at a similar low level as in October and, while they are below their long run average, they have not quite reached the low levels of 1998 or 2003 and are much less negative than in 1980 and 1991 - all this points to companies making more rapid adjustments to output in response to lower orders.  It is also worth noting that Capital Goods companies overall are less negative on total orders, export orders and the prospects for output than companies in either the Intermediate Goods or Consumer Goods sectors. 

European Industrial New Orders, September 20008 

Data released by Eurostat shows that Industrial New Orders in the euro-zone fell by -3.9% compared to August, with a decline of -4.6% for the EU27 overall.  Compared to September 2007, industrial new orders declined by -1.1% in the euro-zone and by -0.9% in the EU27;  on this annual basis, orders for transport equipment fell by -14.8% and -13.9% respectively, for machinery there was a decline of –3.9% in the euro-zone, but an increase of +1.7% in the EU27 and orders for basic metals and metal products (combined as one sector unfortunately) there were increases of +4.4% (euro-zone) and +3.3% (EU27).  By member state and using the 12 month comparison, there were nine increases and ten declines (not all countries publish this data);  the fastest growth was in Latvia (+48.1%) and Romania (+43.1%), while the largest reductions was in Spain (-9.1%) and Sweden (-9.0%).  Copies of the Eurostat News Release are available on request. 

Source: The Manufacturing Technologies Association, November 28, 2008