As for manufacturing, it's down 0.4 per cent, so making the second successive monthly decline.

This was the fifth monthly decline in the past year.

Excluding aircraft, orders fell by 0.4 per cent, the fifth consecutive monthly decline.

This was worse than economists' expectations and marked the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

This month the annual rate of price inflation increased to 9.2 per cent, because of a steeper monthly decline last year.