The manufacturing downturn in the UK is beginning to ease

According to a poll released on Friday, the manufacturing sector in Britain continued to show indications of improvement but businesses remained cautious and raised their pricing.

The S&P Global/CIPS manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 47.2 in November from 44.8 in October, marking the third consecutive month of improvement.

The number was higher than an initial November estimate of 46.7, but it was still below the 50.0 growth criteria for the sixteenth consecutive month.

The PMI indicated that the severity of the decline has lessened in production and new orders.

"Manufacturers nonetheless remained on a cautious footing, with ongoing market uncertainty and the need to control costs leading to job losses, stock depletion and lower purchasing," S&P Global reported.

While input costs continued to decline, manufacturers raised their selling prices for the second time in six months, albeit very slightly, to boost their profit margins, the report stated.

After holding interest rates at their 15-year high in September and November, the Bank of England said it had not seen enough softening of underlying inflation to consider lowering them. Instead, it is now keeping an eye on pricing pressures in the economy.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)