LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - British manufacturing order books recovered unexpectedly in August, although expectations for output fell to their lowest level since January, an industry survey showed on Thursday.
The Confederation of British Industry's monthly total order book balance from its monthly industrial trends survey rose to -1 from -10 in July. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an unchanged reading.
There was some sign of improvement in export orders, although the CBI warned that eight out of 18 of its manufacturing sectors covered in the survey were still experiencing below average levels of export orders.
"While the rebound in manufacturers' total order books is encouraging, many firms are still struggling in overseas markets," said Rain Newton-Smith, director of economics at the CBI.
"On the one hand, the strength of sterling and cheaper energy are reducing factory input costs, but the strong pound is also hitting export prices and margins hard."
Sterling is currently close to 7-1/2-year highs against a trade-weighted basked of currencies.
The CBI's output expectations index fell to a seven-month low and manufacturers said they expected average prices to fall in the next three months after being flat last quarter.