Modest growth maintained in May, but North of England lags behind.

Key points:

• Seven of the nine English regions see higher output
• Only the North East and the North West report declines
• Job creation close to stagnation in majority of regions
• Input price inflation slows markedly

A further slowdown in the rate of business output growth was recorded across the English regions in May, according to the Lloyds TSB regional Purchasing Managers’ Index, which was published today. The index remains above the critical mark of 50, reflecting continued growth, but at 52.3, down from 52.6 in April, the index measuring overall private sector business activity in the English regions indicated the slowest pace of expansion for six months, led by a weaker contribution from manufacturing production.
 

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