A survey has shown that British manufacturing activity growth eased last month.
The CIPS/NTC said its manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 55.1 last month from 56.1 in August - the lowest since June and below analysts' forecasts. Any reading above 50 marks expansion.
CIPS/NTC said manufacturing conditions remained robust in September, even though output and new orders growth eased.
But the Bank of England will be concerned to see that firms continued to bump up their prices, even though their input costs grew at a slower pace. The output prices index rose to 57.8 from 56 - the highest since records began in 1999.
This suggests price pressures could yet pick up again even though annual consumer price inflation has been below its 2% target for two months running. It is likely to reinforce expectations that the BoE will hold rates at 5.75% this week despite financial market turmoil.
