British Factory Orders Fell at The Slowest Pace

British factory orders fell at the slowest pace since March this month and firms are more optimistic about the coming months after the economic impact of COVID-19 caused the biggest collapse in demand since 1980.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) monthly order book balance rose to -46 in July from -58 in June. This was its highest reading since March but a lower than the average forecast of -38 in a Reuters poll of economists.

A separate quarterly measure of factory orders for the three months to July was its lowest since 1980, though quarterly output expectations picked up to their strongest since April 2018 and pointed to a recovery inactivity.