The UK manufacturing sector continued to exhibit further signs of improvement in April as demand began to edge up, a survey of the sector from the country's biggest business lobby group found today. However, the industrial trends survey from the Confederation of British Industry revealed that firms are still cutting jobs in the face of rising cost pressures. In its April survey of the sector, the CBI said a balance -11 pct reported order books above normal, above the reading of -16 pct in March and the best figure since February 2005. The reading is well above expectations for an unchanged reading. "There are glimmers of hope on the horizon for manufacturers who have endured a long-lasting downturn. But at a time when commodity and energy prices continue to rise unabated, UK manufacturing is not out of the woods yet," said Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic adviser. On a quarterly basis meanwhile, output also improved substantially, with a balance of +2 pct of firms indicating that output was higher in the three months to April, reversing four straight quarters of declines