Manufacturers ended 2011 with their worst quarter since Britain was in the grip of recession, although the pace of contraction slowed in December.
The closely watched Markit Purchasing Managers Index survey, which asks manufacturers about their output and order books, showed a reading of 49.6 last month — an improvement on the 47.7 recorded in November, but still below the 50 mark which signals expansion.
The MPMI explores the rate of change, not the absolute level.
\”Worst\” describes the absolute level not the rate of change.
Acceleration and deceleration are simply not the same thing as speed.
But I guess a very low score is a sign of extreme pessimism, so you could say that people are more pessimistic than ever before, which tends to be a self-fulfilling thing – no?
A common misunderstanding, due I imagine to the prevalence of “New Maths” in government schools.
It’s not so long since I read an article in the DT which was headlined “Scottish food prices double in a year”, or words to that effect. What they meant was that the rate of increase in food prices had gone up from 4% pa to 6% pa, in six months. So – a worry, rather than a revolution.
Clearly too many arts graduates being employed in the MSM.