A survey by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply revealed that while the rate of decline of export orders eased slightly this month thanks to the weakening of the pound, there was a sharp dip in domestic orders.

The downward trend in manufacturing shows no sign of picking up

The CIPS seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index (PMI) for manufacturing fell to 41.1 in November from 41.4 in October.

It was the lowest reading since the survey began in January 1992 and the eighth consecutive month of decline.

Almost 40% of respondents reported a fall in new orders compared with the previous month, with only 16% reporting an improvement.

No relief for industry

Although the weaker pound has helped to reduce the pressure on sales of goods overseas - it has not been by enough.

Peter Thomson, CIPS director said: "The trend is showing no sign of picking up.

More workers are losing their jobs

"Export orders are slightly less awful than last month which is a slight bright spot. But these are not good numbers.

"The weaker pound has given some assistance but it is not sufficient."

Exporters continued to blame the uncompetitive exchange rate and the Far East economic crisis for their problems.

More redundancies

There were also widespread reports of redundancies, with more than one in five companies reporting job losses, compared with only 6% recruiting new staff.

The decline in employment levels was the ninth fall in a row. Mr Thomson, added: "This is yet more evidence of manufacturers struggling to survive in the current climate of both falling domestic and overseas demand.

"Worryingly, declining activity levels are increasingly being translated into more widespread redundancies."

The fall in demand left companies forced to run down stock levels and decrease orders from manufacturers.

The quantity of purchases index, which measures the amount of stock bought, fell at its sharpest level since the survey began seven years ago.

The CIPS survey is based on data from purchasing executives in 310 industrial companies.