(BRIEF) The latest NatWest Regional PMI® survey shows that business activity expanded across most of the UK in February, accompanied by a slight rebound in business confidence driven by developing demand. While regions like London have seen a physically powerful expansion, others, like Wales, have seen a decline in production. Cost pressures have intensified nationally, particularly in London, due to points such as the rise of input costs and disruptions in the shipping sector. Despite contrasting trends in the labor market, optimism about long-term activity has increased in many regions, indicating a positive outlook amid continued challenging hiring situations and inflationary pressures. Sebastian Burnside, lead economist at NatWest, pointed to promising expansion trends but noted continued caution in hiring decisions amid combined employment trends across regions.
(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, March 12, 2024 – /EuropaWire/ – NatWest’s most recent regional PMI® survey showed that business activity developed across most of the UK in February. Business confidence has also rebounded amid a broader improvement in underlying demand. , labor market trends remained more mixed, with firms reporting senior management pressures and low capacity utilization in most areas.
The Business Activity PMI is the first factual indicator of regional economic fitness to be released each month and tracks monthly adjustments in the production of goods and in the personal sector. A number above 50 indicates growth, and the higher the 50, the faster the expansion.
Two-thirds of UK countries and regions surveyed recorded an expansion in business activity in February. London remained in the lead despite slowing its pace of expansion to a three-month low (index of 56. 5). At the other end of the scale, Wales (47. 5) recorded a sharp and accelerating decline in production, while declines were also seen in the north-east (47. 5), Yorkshire
Order
Data from February showed that an increasing number of regions are reporting larger flows of new cases. Further increases were recorded in Scotland, the south-east and east of England, while the largest overall increase was recorded in London. Yorkshire Businesses
Prices
Cost pressures intensified in most parts of the UK in February. Input prices continued to rise most rapidly in London, where the inflation rate accelerated to a six-month high. Only in the east of England and Scotland did prices rise more slowly compared to January. Northern Ireland* experienced the lowest overall expansion and the only country to record an inflation rate below its long-term average.
London businesses recorded the largest overall accumulation of value from goods and facilities in February, as they have done in five of the past six months. Producer value inflation rates have sometimes accelerated, in Scotland and the West Midlands. It was in Northern Ireland that rate increases were slower.
Capacity
Scotland topped the task expansion ranking in February for the fourth time in the past five months, relegating London to second place. The east of England, Northern Ireland, the south-west and the south-east saw a slight increase in numbers, while the north-west saw no change. Job cuts have been felt elsewhere.
Reducing cadre backlogs remained a recurring theme in the UK in February, a sign of a general lack of strain on entrepreneurship. The south-east saw the biggest decline, followed by Wales. Only London recorded an increase in slopes, following the increase. It was marginal and slower than in January.
Perspectives
Business expectations advanced at a peak in February. The Southeast recorded the highest degree of optimism for the first time in 8 months. Confidence is lowest in the North East, which is one of the two regions where sentiment weakened compared to last month (along with the West Midlands).
* Northern Ireland’s PMI policy includes structure and retail trade, as well as production and services.
Sebastian Burnside, Chief Economist at NatWest, commented:
“These latest PMI figures build on the positive start to the year we announced last month, with business activity rising in most countries and regions in February. Encouragingly, the expansion is supported in most cases through increasing degrees of new business, indicating a recovery in underlying demand and suggesting that the recovery has been sustained.
“Business confidence has recovered and advanced especially in many areas since the beginning of the year, further strengthening the outlook. “
“Price pressures increased across the UK in February, with corporations reporting a mix of emerging wage demands and rate increases similar to the disruption of shipping in the Red Sea. Signs of inflation remain high in London, but are also picking up in the rest of the world. regions. “
“Although backlogs are declining, suggesting a lack of pressure on entrepreneurship and consistently high wage tensions, we still see some caution around hiring. The UK labour market as a whole remains afloat amid combined sub-national employment trends.
February 2024 NatWest Regional PMI® in the UK
PMI® Report
Notes to editors
Methodology
NatWest UK’s regional PMI® knowledge is collected via S
Survey responses are collected in the second part of the month and involve the replacement address compared to the previous month. A diffusion index is calculated for the survey variables. The index is the sum of the percentage of “high” responses and part of the percentage of “non-superseded” responses. Indices range from 0 to 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall increase from last month, and below 50 an overall decrease. The indices are then seasonally adjusted.
The main figure for each region is the Business Activity Index. It is a diffusion index calculated from a single query that requests the increase in the volume of activity (among service providers) or production (between manufacturers) compared to the previous month. The Business Activity Index is comparable to the United Kingdom’s composite output index. It’s known as the “PMI” but it’s not comparable to the UK’s headline output PMI figure.
The underlying survey data is not revised after publication, but the seasonal adjustment points may be revised from time to time, as appropriate, which corresponds to the seasonally adjusted data series.
February survey data collected from February 12-27, 2024.
For more information on the PMI survey method, please contact Economics@spglobal. com.
About PMI
The Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI) ® surveys are now available for more than 40 countries, as well as key regions, including the Eurozone. These are the most closely followed business surveys in the world, favored by central banks and money markets. and policymakers for their ability to provide up-to-date, accurate, and unique monthly signals of economic trends. For more information, visit www. spglobal. com/marketintelligence/en/mi/products/pmi.
About S
S
We are widely sought after by many of the world’s leading organizations to provide credit ratings, benchmarks, analysis, and workflow responses in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. With our offerings, we help the world’s largest organizations plan for the long term. Run hoy. www. spglobal. com.
Disclaimer
The rights to the intellectual assets contained herein are owned or licensed through S.
This content was published via S
Media Contact:
SOURCE: NatWest
MORE ON NATWEST, ETC. :NatWest Group appoints Paul Thwaite as chief executive and points to long-term growthNatWest regional PMI survey points to broad economic growth across UK regionsNatWest and Beauhurst Startup Index reveals record year for UK entrepreneurship in 2023Emma Crystal appointed chief executive of NatWest Group Wealth Companies, including Coutts, in a strategic move to teach families about scams before Christmas. NatWest launches ‘Home Energy Hub’ for UK homeowners to improve their sustainability. NatWest complements the ‘Cora’ virtual assistant with generative AI for greater visitor engagement.
EuropaWire (EW) is, in fact, the first pan-European press release and press release distribution service for Europe and the European Union, which aims to consolidate Europe’s global voice of news agencies and media. Submission forms, flexible PR pricing and budgets, granular targeting, unlimited maximum success across countries, markets, verticals, industries, audiences, languages, etc. , translation and localization for greater impact on local PR, in-depth distribution. . reports, metrics, and insights, adding measured PR success, reads, interactions, impact, etc. , with no limits on words, images, and multimedia to accompany your post, among other things. Your press releases will be among the press releases of Europe’s largest and most important companies, brands and stores.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?