North East companies have a reached a record low for confidence in a monthly business survey.
The NatWest North East Business Activity Index, which measures changes in the region’s manufacturing and service sectors, fell to 45.7 in October, down from 46.8 a month earlier. That means activity in the region has declined nine times in the past 12 months, while the North East posted the third-fastest contraction across the 12 UK regions.
The survey also found that the volume of new work received by private sector firms in the North East fell for the eighth month running, and that average input prices increased for the 29th successive month.
