Manufacturing and car production in the fast lane but High Street slows

Source: Daily Mail, LondonSept.自存倉 20--The order books of British manufacturers are at their fullest since the financial crisis began, as the sector continues to power ahead.In another sign of life in the economy, car production grew by more than 16pc in August.But there was more sobering news on the High Street as consumers curbed their spending after July's heat wave.The CBI's September survey of almost 400 manufacturers has found that total orders rose for the fifth consecutive month, while export orders also grew strongly.Some 28pc of firms reported their total order books were above normal in the period from August 21 to September 11, while 19pc said they were below.The balance of 9pc is the best result since August 2007.Stephen Gifford, CBI director of economics, said: 'This month's results show the manufacturing recovery continues to gather pace. Order books are the fullest they've been since the start of the financial crisis, and firms are ramping up production to meet demand.'The figures followed a sharp fall in exports in July.Samuel Tombs, from Capital Economics, described this as a 'blip' and said the 'manufacturing industry is going fr迷你倉m strength to strength'.The news came as UK car production grew 16.2pc in August, with 91,282 vehicles produced. It marked the third successive monthly gain, according to industry body the SMMT.Experts said the August results may have been flattered by poor results last year, when the Greek and Spanish debt crises were gathering momentum.The picture was less rosy on the High Street, with consumers cutting spending on food and outdoor goods such as barbecues in August after July's heatwave.Official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales volumes fell 0.9pc on the month.Economists had expected an increase because of the good weather in August.Food sales, which rose sharply in July, fell 2.7pc in August.But fashion retailers reported an increase in sales, with internet sales up 30.4pc compared with the same period last year.This was attributed to the slump in the same period last year when consumers were too busy watching the Olympics and Paralympics to shop online.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Daily Mail (London, ) Visit the Daily Mail (London, ) at .dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉