The last survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed Tuesday
that the UK manufacturers' order books remained at a two-year low in April.
According to the report, the CBI's monthly factory order book balance stood
at -20 in April, being the same as in the previous month.
Economists had predicted the reading to remain at -20.
The data also showed that expectations of new orders
in the next three months hold steady (+9), while employment expectations and
price expectations fell to their lowest since January 2021. In other survey
results, stocks of finished goods increased to their highest level since August
2020.