A newly-released survey from the CBI paints another gloomy picture for the manufacturing industry in Yorkshire.

The study of regional trends, by the CBI and Business Strategies Ltd, showed business confidence to be falling or stagnant throughout most of the UK.

For Yorkshire and the Humber, the report concluded that overall confidence had fallen for the second quarterly survey running. It showed that export optimism was flat, compared to the last study which showed a rapid decrease. The figures also highlighted that output had fallen but this was expected to stabilise within four months.

Unemployment rose "fairly rapidly"and it also predicted further job losses in the coming months but not a such a severe rate.

Sudhir Junankar, CBI Associate Director for Economic Analysis, said: "This reinforces our concerns for manufacturers across the UK. Despite the fall in sterling since last spring, manufacturers continue to battle with a strong pound reflected by the falls in export orders in many regions."