The final UK manufacturing PMI was 48.0, down from the flash estimate of 48.6 and October's final of 49.9. The implied contraction in activity was the steepest in nine months.

This was the second consecutive print below the 50-growth threshold and reflected declines in output, new orders, employment and stocks of purchases. Vendor delivery times lengthened but only due to by supply chain pressures such as the Red sea crisis, border regulatory issues including Brexit related constraints and well as North American port disruptions.

Delayed investment decisions, cutbacks to new projects due to domestic market uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions all weighed. Some firms noted that announcements in the UK Budget had also had a negative effect.

Business optimism remained positive in November. Half of the companies surveyed forecast that production would increase over the coming year. Still, many remained concerned about rising geopolitical tensions, domestic politics and the impact of higher employment costs on future domestic demand.

November saw a slight uptick in the rate of input price inflation due to higher costs for chemicals, energy, food products, metals, paper and timber. Increased freight costs, raw material shortages and the Red Sea crisis also contributed. However, selling price inflation eased to a 9-month low.

The latest results trim the UK RPI to minus 25 and the RPI-P to minus 38. Overall economic activity is falling behind market expectations.

Forecasters uniformly expect no revision from the 48.6 flash for the PMI manufacturing final.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an estimate of manufacturing business activity for the preceding month by using information obtained from a representative sector survey incorporating around 3,000 companies. Results are synthesised into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) activity versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster is activity growing (contracting). The survey covers more than 600 industrial companies and is compiled by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and S&P Global.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the ISM manufacturing index in the U.S. and the and S&P Global PMIs elsewhere, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures.

The PMI manufacturing data give a detailed look at the manufacturing sector, how busy it is and where things are headed. Since the manufacturing sector is a major source of cyclical variability in the economy, this report has a big influence on the markets. And its sub-indexes provide a picture of orders, output, employment and prices.