MANUFACTURERS took another small step on the road to recovery last month.

The CBI's latest industrial trends survey found order levels were at their highest since February of last year.

But the CBI said it was clear that manufacturers were not out of the woods yet.

In the survey, 18 per cent of firms said orders were above normal, while 35 per cent said they were below par. The resulting balance of minus 17 per cent, compares with the minus 26 per cent reported in May and the minus 28 per cent in April.

Export orders showed a balance of minus 27 per cent - a one per cent improvement on May's figure.

The survey also suggested that firms had met the recent pick-up in orders by reducing existing stocks.

That meant output levels only edged slightly higher in the last month, with a balance of plus six per cent of firms expecting output to improve.