After Brexit, Signs Point to Recession for Britain

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The latest survey of purchasing managers suggests bad news for Britain:

The U.K. economy likely contracted in July as businesses responded to the uncertainty created by a vote to leave the European Union by cutting output and payrolls, according to a survey of purchasing managers at manufacturers and service providers….The U.K. PMI is a measure of activity based on monthly questioning of 600 manufacturing companies and 650 service providers since 1998. It has a close correlation with official measures of economic growth.

….Markit said the measure fell to 47.7 in July from 52.4 in June, the sharpest one-month drop on record. A reading below 50.0 signals a decline in activity, and a reading above that level indicates an expansion.

Is this a temporary dip, or a sign of things to come? Obviously we don’t know yet. But that’s a helluva big drop for a single month.

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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

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