Mixed News on UK manufacturing?

It really depends which news story you are reading.

For instance a headline over at the Manufacturer.com reads

UK manufacturing loses 8000 jobs in January.

According to research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) these worrying figures show the fragile state of an industry which is facing a number of difficult challenges including dealing with the negative impact of interest rate rises in the past few months. BCC said the figures underline its concerns about the effect another rate rise will have on the UK economy, particularly among struggling sectors like manufacturing......

However if you pop over to Supply Management you might be happy to note:

 

UK manufacturing accelerates for first time in five months

Rates of expansion for UK manufacturing and new orders accelerated for the first time in five months in January, according to the latest CIPS/RBS Purchasing Managers' Index.

The index, where a reading above 50 indicates growth, recorded manufacturing activity as 52.8 in January, an improvement on the previous month's figure of 52.0 and an increase for the nineteenth month in a row.

I suppose they are not necessarily contradictory, but the angle taken on any given subject, can make a hell of a difference to the tone of a story. I will have to put together a "happy" news feed, just for Monday Mornings.