Manufacturers have reported a fall in orders this month, but the slide has been less than expected after exports rose to their highest level in two years.
A survey by the business lobby group the CBI found that the dive in sterling, prompted by the vote to leave the EU, gave a strong boost to exports of manufactured goods that offset uncertainty in the domestic market.
The survey found that total order books were slightly weaker than in the three months to July, down from a balance of -4 in the three months to July to -5 in August.
But the overall picture was of an industry with orders that remained “comfortably above the long-run average” and with output growth “at a healthy pace”.
