Manufacturing jobs fall

Employment has fallen in the manufacturing sector for the first time in two and half years, according to the CIPS/Market purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey.

The highly respected survey posted a reading of 51.5 last month down from a revised reading of 51.6 in August. In the survey a level of 50 separates growth and contraction. The report claimed that September rounded off one of the worst quarters of the past two years as factory jobs fell for the first time since April 2013.

The survey blamed a strong pound, weak export orders and the slowing down of the Chinese economy for the fall.