British Factories See Smaller Drop in Orders in December

A survey on Friday showed that the decline in British factory orders eased in December as more parts of the economy reopened following a second nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of the Coronavirus.

The Confederation of British Industry’s measure of monthly orders books in the manufacturing sector rose to -25 from -40 in November, the strongest reading in ten months.

A Reuters poll of economists indicated a reading of -34.