Manufacturing activity in the U.K. closed 2010 with a bang, posting the strongest growth in 16 years, offering hope that the economic recovery is gaining strength, according to The Daily Telegraph. The Market/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply reported on Tuesday that the U.K. purchasing managers’ index reached 58.3 to reach the highest level since 1994 while outpacing expectations for a reading of 57. The figure was well above the 50-point marker of expansion, driven by strong exports.
Rob Dobson, the senior economist at Markit said the data indicated, “The U.K. manufacturing sector saw a truly spectacular end to 2010,” adding, “All of this points to manufacturing being a positive spur to the economic recovery in the final quarter.” Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight was also upbeat, calling the report “fantastic,” and adding that was especially good news since, “It is vitally important that the U.K. economy is on as firm a footing as possible as the fiscal tightening really starts to bite.”