The manufacturing downturn continues to hit confidence and orders in every UK region and will cause an estimated 86,000 job cuts in the first half of this year.
The latest regional health check of UK manufacturing, published quarterly by the CBI and Experian Business Strategies, showed firms have been cutting jobs since Christmas.
The rate had been fastest in the South-East and slowest in the South-West.
Five out of 11 UK regions expected a modest recovery in orders over the next four months but this was seen as unlikely to boost employment.
The report said the decline was being driven by a sharp deterioration in domestic demand as weak global trading conditions spread to the home market.
Thursday May 8 2003
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