British manufacturers' order books deteriorated unexpectedly at their fastest rate since the start of this year, a survey showed today.
The Confederation of British Industry said its monthly manufacturing order books balance fell to -20 in October from -5 in September. That was the weakest reading since January.
Analysts had forecast the order books balance would remain steady at -5, which was its highest since Dec 2004.
The balance of firms expecting future output to increase fell to +9 from +14 in September.
In its quarterly questions, the overall business situation balance fell to -10 in October from -6 in July.
