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Personnel Today

Order books emptying at record rate as world waits

by Personnel Today 6 May 2003
by Personnel Today 6 May 2003

Manufacturing employers report that orders are falling at their fastest rate
for four years, research by the CBI reveals.

Its Quarterly Industrial Trends survey, published last week, finds the
latest decline in orders has been driven by a sharp deterioration in domestic
demand.

Thirty-seven per cent of firms reported a fall, against 16 per cent which
saw a rise.

The difference between the two gives a balance of minus 21 per cent,
compared with minus 9 per cent in the January survey. Total orders are expected
to continue falling sharply over the coming months.

This suggests the weakness in global trading conditions that caused the
manufacturing recession is spreading to the home market, where orders are now
falling at their fastest rate since April 1999.

The survey also shows a decline in manufacturers’ confidence, which can
probably be attributed in part to the war in Iraq – but this is the third
consecutive survey to register a fall.

CBI director-general Digby Jones called for a cut in interest rates to
stimulate demand.

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"The end of the Iraq conflict will steady nerves," he said,
"but the world’s economic problems were there before the war and they are
still there now. Manufacturers hoped domestic demand would hold up until there
was a pick-up in global trade, but that does not seem to be happening. We are
not predicting a recession, however."

www.cbi.co.uk

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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