British manufacturers' order books unexpectedly put in their best performance in August in more than 18-months, a survey showed today.
The Confederation of British Industry's monthly industrial trends survey's total orders balance rose to -8 last month from -11 in July. That was the highest since Dec. 2004 and better than analysts' forecasts of -12.
The balance for firms' expectations of future output, however, fell to +11 from +14 in July. Financial markets shrugged off the data.
"The outlook remains encouraging for UK manufacturers. But it is disappointing that export orders have not improved more given the current revival of the euro zone economy," said CBI chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty.
The export orders balance remained steady at -6.
But manufacturers were clearly more confident about raising prices. The domestic price expectations balance rose to +13, its highest since Jan 2005, from +6 in July.
"Inflationary pressures that are becoming ever more evident were also clear in this survey," said Alan Clarke, UK economist at BNP Paribas.