A recap on what @EEF_Economists blogged about in August 2014

August 2014 insights into UK manufacturing and the economy from EEF

byEEF Economics Team83 Views
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  1. Manufacturing and Economic Data

  2. August saw the release of the first set of data reporting on economic performance for the start of the second half of the year. Up first was manufacturing PMI which in July fell back to the lowest level seen so far this year. We covered this in our blog - Positive. Manufacturing. Indicator?
  3. Thumbnail for EEF Economics Blog | Positive. Manufacturing. Indicator?EEF Economics Blog | Positive. Manufacturing. Indicator?
    Official statistics have reported five consecutive quarters of expansion. Although the most recent data, for the three months to June, indicated a sharp slowdown in the pace in growth. Kicking off the data reporting for the second half of the year is today's manufacturing PMI.
    Eef
  4. We covered this in our Monthly Economic Briefing for August, with our Chief Economist asking - might some of the shine come off the UK’s economic performance in the second half of the year?
  5. Thumbnail for EEF Economics Blog | August's Monthly Economic BriefingEEF Economics Blog | August's Monthly Economic Briefing
    http://www.eef.org.uk/blog/post/Augusts-Monthly-Economic-Briefing.aspx
    Eef
  6. June's Index of Production, the final month of the first half of the year, confirmed a solid five-quarter run of growth for the UK’s manufacturing sector, with output growing 0.2% in the three months to June.
  7. Thumbnail for EEF Economics Blog | June's Index of ProductionEEF Economics Blog | June's Index of Production
    This morning's Index of Production confirmed a solid five-quarter run of growth for the UK's manufacturing sector, with output growing 0.2% in the three months to June. Manufacturing output is now 7.4% below pre-recession levels.
    Eef
  8. However in the same month, the trade deficit widened yet again.
  10. Later in the month, data was released showing port statistics for 2013 which backed up this trade trend, imports through ports were up and exports through ports were down...
  11. Thumbnail for EEF Economics Blog | UK Port Freight Statistics 2013EEF Economics Blog | UK Port Freight Statistics 2013
    http://www.eef.org.uk/blog/post/UK-Port-Freight-Statistics-2013.aspx
    Eef
  12. Eef
    ·
    Fri, Aug 29 2014 10:55:35
  13. We also looked at inflation figures, noting that last month's increase in CPI to 1.9% was a blip and not a trend.
  14. Thumbnail for EEF Economics Blog | CPI falls back down to 1.6%EEF Economics Blog | CPI falls back down to 1.6%
    Statistics released this morning confirmed that last month's increase in CPI to 1.9% was a blip rather than a trend, as the inflation rate fell back down to 1.6% in the year to July 2014. CPI inflation has now been below the Bank of England's target rate of 2.0% for seven months.
    Eef
  15. In the last few months there has been lots of talk about the Bank of England raising interest rates, we scanned the quarterly Inflation Report to see if we could find any clues about when rates may be raised.
  16. EEF Economics Blog | What's new at the Bank?
    The Bank of England's quarterly Inflation Report updates its key forecasts for the economy and sheds a bit more light on its thinking about when interest rates might rise and what stats will influence the timing. First up, forecasts.
    Eef

  17. Innovation

  18. At the end of July we published Innovation Monitor 2014/15 - Coming Into Focus. The social media traffic for this excellent report carried on into August using the hashtag #EEFIM
  20. A number of organisations commented on the findings in August including:
  24. In 2012 we published Route to Growth, EEF's view on how an industrial strategy could help lead to better balanced growth. Route to Growth included a number of metrics and in August the data for one of these metrics was released showing significant progress
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