Manufacturing job losses has hit its fastest pace since 2020 in February as inflation and soaring taxes has pushed costs up and amid fears of tariffs output has hit a 14-month low.
The S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey recorded a reading of 46.9 last month compared to 48.3 in January, a score above 50 means activity is rising and below this number shows it is contracting.
Since the Autumn Budget last year factories have been hit hard due to the Chancellor’s tax hikes for employers’ national insurance.
Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the cost rises is “driving up inflation fears and intensifying the downward trend in staff headcounts.”
Tom Pugh, an economist at consultancy RSM, said, “A combination of weak growth in our major trading partners such as France and Germany, combined with uncertainty around US tariffs, and therefore a potential global trade war, continues to weigh heavily on manufacturing firms.”
Pugh added that export weakness is “clearly hampering the manufacturing sector, and given the likelihood of further tariffs and trade disruption, it doesn’t look like this will improve any time soon”.
“The good news is that the domestic economy should recover through this year, helping to support some increase in activity.”
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