Is the worst of the recession over for the manufacturing sector?
The gloom has certainly lifted a little due largely to encouraging output figures in April.
Manufacturing output in the last business quarter was 13.2% lower than the same period a year ago. So where's the good news?
Well, between March and April, output of the manufacturing industries rose by 0.2% and this was the second monthly rise in a row, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
But no one is actually seeing those proverbial "green shoots" just yet.
That even a marginal 0.2% increase in output in April is seized on, is probably more a measure of how far the manufacturing industry has fallen than any real grounds for optimism.
But if confidence is turning then now is the time to view the glass as half full rather than half empty.
The most encouraging view comes from the transport equipment industry where output was up 3.2% in April.
However, output in many other manufacturing industries including some areas of electronics was down in April.
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