BRITAIN’S main manufacturing lobby has halved its forecast for growth this year after overseas orders fell to their lowest since the financial crisis, while recruiters said skills shortages were leading to higher wages but slower job growth.

    British manufacturing expanded 3.1 percent last year, its best performance since 2010, but the EEF manufacturers’ organization said yesterday that it expected growth to slow this year to just 0.7 percent, down from an earlier forecast of 1.5 percent.

    “While U.K. data have continued to point to solid growth, U.K. manufacturing is having to contend with a roller-coaster of risks from the rest of the world, and the white-knuckle ride is starting to take its toll,” EEF chief economist Lee Hopley said.

    Uncertainty about the scale of an economic slowdown in China have caused its share prices to tumble in recent weeks, and both the United States and China have reported the slowest manufacturing activity in more than two years.

    The EEF said the proportion of British manufacturers reporting growth was the lowest since late 2009, and that new export orders had edged down to a six-year low, a weaker picture than a similar survey had shown last week.(SD-Agencies)