Mixed signals for Brexit-bound UK economy: factories grow, consumers cautious

Britain's factories have started 2017 strongly but consumers are turning more cautious about borrowing to spend, according to data which suggested the economy will slow after defying the Brexit shock in 2016. The pound's slump after June's vote to leave the European Union helped demand for British exports, but it is unlikely to outweigh the hit to households as the cost of imports rises.
The picture of Britain's economy given by a monthly survey of the manufacturing sector and separate Bank of England data on borrowing hinted at a slight shift in the drivers of the country's surprisingly strong growth since the referendum.
Despite a bigger-than-expected slip in February in its measure of manufacturing, Markit said the sector looked on track for one of its best performances of the past seven years with growth of 1.5 percent likely in the first three months of 2017.
For the first time since mid-2012, year-on-year growth in unsecured consumer borrowing fell for two months in a row. The rise in borrowing in the three months to January, while still strong at nearly 10 percent, was its weakest in over a year.
The housing market has shown fewer signs of a slowdown. The BoE said mortgage approvals - a gauge of future activity - rose to an 11-month high in January and mortgage lender Nation-wide reported an unexpected pick-up in price growth, though it still expected growth to slow to 2 percent this year.