UK factory activity and consumer lending slow in early 2018

Britain's economy kept on its steady but slow course at the start of 2018, just over a year before the country is due to leave the European Union, as growth across factories cooled to an eight-month low and lending to consumers slowed.
The IHS Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) inched down to 55.2 in February from 55.3 in January, its second-lowest reading since June 2016's Brexit vote, though a shade above the average forecast of 55.0 in a Reuters poll.
Manufacturing was a relative bright spot for Britain's economy late last year, when year-on-year growth for the economy as a whole was the weakest among the G7 group of rich nations, partly due to weaker consumer demand caused by higher inflation after June 2016's Brexit vote. Separate figures from the Bank of England on Thursday showed annual growth in unsecured consumer lending fell to 9.3 percent in January from December's 9.5 percent, despite the biggest monthly increase in net credit card lending since January 2005.
However, the number of mortgages approved by lenders rose to a six-month high after its biggest monthly jump in nearly three years, suggesting the housing market perked up slightly.
The PMI suggested factory output growth so far this year has slowed to a three-monthly rate of 0.4 percent compared with a robust 1.3 percent in the last three months of 2017, IHS Markit said.
"Growth in the manufacturing sector is moderating, now that the recovery in the euro zone has started to lose a little pace and more than 18 months have elapsed since sterling's huge depreciation," Pantheon Macroeconomics economist Samuel Tombs said.
February's growth slowdown was broad, affecting firms producing consumer, investment and intermediate goods, at a time when manufacturers in most of Europe are enjoying a strong upswing from a recovery in global demand, the survey showed. The exact trigger for the past months' slowdown, just over a year before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019, was unclear, and IHS Markit said there were some brighter signs for the future.
Factory order growth was the strongest since November, and 56 percent of manufacturers expect to raise production over the coming year - close to January's two-year high - versus 6 percent who forecast a decline.
Manufacturers' raw material costs rose at a slower rate than January's 11-month high, and the pace at which firms passed higher costs on to their customers also slowed.