Well I have to admit I didn’t see this coming:
Dire exports cast doubt on recovery outlook
Britain’s goods trade deficit increased by almost 1 billion pounds in January to 7.987 billion pounds, after exports fell 6.9 percent, the biggest monthly drop since July 2006, the Office for National Statistics said, despite a weak pound.
Some are trying to blame the snow, but that seems unlikely to have affected things much
Also, most of the companies I hold in manufacturing (e.g. Goodwin, Hamla, and James Halstead) seem to be doing well enough, though they actually make goods everywhere around the world via subsidiaries and I’m not quite sure how that factors into the ONS’ figures.
If I had to guess I’d say it was something to do with holding profit margins in the face of weak demand from the wobbly Eurozone and US, but it’s certainly only a guess.
Hopefully just a speed bump.
(Source: Reuters)
