GROWTH of overall UK manufacturing activity accelerated during July as the sector was boosted by a jump in new export orders, a survey has shown.

However, the pace of manufacturing expansion was still weaker than that recorded in May.

The survey from the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, which has painted a more positive picture of the UK manufacturing sector than official data in recent times, also signals a modest acceleration in the pace of employment growth in the sector.

CIPS’s headline purchasing managers’ index for the UK manufacturing sector, which measures changes in output, new orders, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of goods purchased, rose from 54.2 in June to 55.1 in July on a seasonally-adjusted basis. This took it further above the level of 50 deemed to separate expansion from contraction, signalling faster growth.

The export orders index jumped from 52.5 to 58.2.

UK manufacturers’ overall new order growth picked up last month from an 11-month low in June, but remained among the weakest rates over the last year.

However, the survey signals there was a slight deceleration of the pace of UK manufacturing output growth in July to the weakest pace in four months.

Rob Dobson, director at survey compiler IHS Markit, said: “Although the exchange rate remains a key driver of export growth, manufacturers also benefited from stronger economic growth in key markets in the euro area, North America and Asia-Pacific regions.”