A new survey suggests the North East economy has stabilised in recent weeks, albeit at low levels.
The NatWest North East Business Activity Index, which measures the month-on-month change in the region’s manufacturing and service sectors, rose to a score 49.8 in November, signalling a fractional reduction in output. That was the joint-slowest contraction of the 12 UK regions measured by the survey, though that still saw the North East the lowest ranked region nationally across 2022 as a whole.
The survey found that the volume of new work received by private sector firms in the North East fell for the ninth month running in November, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that economic uncertainty and high inflation are continuing to weigh on demand. The Future Activity Index remained below the no-change mark of 50.0 in November, meaning a fourth successive month of overall pessimism regarding the next 12 months.
