Employment growth to continue with ongoing regional recovery
FIRMS are still recording robust business growth in every part of England and Wales, for the 16th consecutive month.
In February, Lloyds’ regional purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for England and Wales reached 58.9, with any figure over 50 indicating a majority of firms are reporting growth.
The figures also suggest a broad-based recovery, with the strongest in the west midlands. A score of 62.2 for the region is the highest since the survey began in 2001. The figures are the lowest in several months for some regions, but remain very robust in comparison to previous years of stragnation.
“Although the pace of growth has slowed marginally since the end of last year, the latest output trends are still among the fastest recorded since the summer of 2007. An accelerated growth in employment numbers across most regions in February also suggests that companies are becoming more confident that improving economic conditions will be sustained,” said Lloyds’ Tim Hinton.