U.K. Manufacturing Slump Deepens as Export Orders Fall

U.K. manufacturing shrank the most in more than three years in July as export orders slumped, indicating the economy’s recession continued to deepen at the start of the third quarter.

A factory-output gauge fell to 45.4 from a revised 48.4 in June, London-based Markit Economics said today. The reading was weaker than any of the 30 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. The decline was led by weaker demand in the euro area, where a separate index showed manufacturing shrank for a 12th month.