The headline reading on the Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index eased to 56.7 in January from a downwardly revised 57.2 in December.
That was lower than the consensus forecast for 57.0 in a Reuters poll of economists but well above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction.
Economists said the sector, which accounts for around a tenth of the UK economy, was still showing solid growth.
“UK manufacturing made a strong start to the new year, continuing the robust upsurge in production seen at the tail end of 2013,” said Rob Dobson, senior economist at survey compilers Markit.
“Although the pace of output expansion has cooled slightly an recent months, growth is still tracking at one of the highest rates in the 22-year survey history.”
