Money Minute Friday 1 November: UK manufacturing

In the UK, we get the latest manufacturing sector survey for October.A reading above 50 suggests that activity in the sector is expanding below 50 indicates it is contracting.

In common with most of the rest of the world, the UK manufacturing sector has been struggling for many months.Markets expect a reading of around 48, suggesting continued contraction.

In the US, it's non-farm payrolls Friday.Markets always pay a great deal of attention to these figures, but this month they are likely to be distorted by the recent strike action at automobile giant GM, which will have had a knock-on impact on GM's suppliers.

As a result, we'll have to take the reading with an even bigger pinch of sat than usual.But overall, the data is likely to point to a moderate slowdown in the labour markets, with both wage inflation and underlying employment growth expected to be lower than last month.