Markit said the fall in the value of the pound triggered by the referendum result had helped to push up overseas orders, while domestic output also bounced back and employment rose for the first time this year.
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The survey compiler said the recovery was broad-based, with all three manufacturing sub-sectors returning to growth.
The figure was comfortably ahead of the 46.5 reading analysts expected and signalled the slowest pace of decline since the downturn began in June.
The construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which is closely watched by policymakers at the Bank of England, hit 49.2 in August. In Asia, recently released PMI manufacturing reports from China and Japan were mixed, with China’s NBS PMI surprising with a rise to 50.4, the Caixin PMI dipping to 50.0 while Japan’s PMI edged lower to 49.5. “Manufacturing PMI data show that the positive momentum seen at the beginning of the second semester has been carried over into August, with expansion rates for new works, buying levels and production accelerating further”, economist at IHS Markit and the report’s author, Pollyanna De Lima, said on Thursday.
The move towards stabilization chimes with the more upbeat United Kingdom manufacturing PMI data for August, and provides hope that the near-term fallout from Brexit uncertainty will prove less severe than feared, said Moore.
Paul Hollingsworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said the PMI pointed to quarterly growth in the official measure of manufacturing output of around 1pc in August.
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LONDON, Sept 2 Sterling was pinned near one-month highs on Friday awaiting a construction sector survey that could feed into expectations that the economy is holding up well after the Brexit vote. “Or even a contraction, in the economy”.
