BELEAGUERED British manufacturing industry suffered another blow with new figures showing a slump in orders and the threat of job losses.

The Purchasing Managers' Index, which measures manufacturing activity, showed order levels in June had fallen at the fastest rate since November 1995, while job losses were at the highest level since 1993. The PMI index fell from 49 points to 47.9 points, marking the sharpest downturn for three years, blamed on the high value of the pound and the collapse of the Asian economy. Buoyant domestic demand sustained growth in the consumer goods sector but could not sway the survey panel from giving gloomy predictions. Geoffrey Dicks, economist at NatWest said: "The PMI survey has gone from bad to worse to even worse." "The report cites the usual suspects for the gloom enveloping the manufacturing sector. Not only are the strong pound and Asian crisis hitting exports, but they're also leading to accelerating import penetration."

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