LONDON (Reuters) - British manufacturers raised prices by the most in seven months and orders fell in February, figures from the Confederation of British Industry showed on Wednesday.
The Confederation of British Industry's monthly order book balance increased to -20 in February from -30 in January, below their long-run average of -13.
Expectations for average selling price inflation rose to +17 this month, up from +9 in January, and their strongest since July 2023.
"UK manufacturing conditions remain challenging, with lower output volumes widely reported across the sector this month. But there were also some hopeful signs," CBI deputy chief economist Anna Leach said.
"As we head towards the Budget, it is critical that the Chancellor uses this opportunity to put the country on a path to sustainable growth," she added.
The survey's measure of output expectations for the next three months dropped to +4 in February from +7 in January, while the gauge of output over the past three months fell to a six-month low of -19 from January's -10.
(This story has been refiled to remove duplicate words in paragraph 1)