An influential survey suggests that the UK’s service sector is back “to expansion mode” breaking the a three-month decline.
In November the S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI survey revealed a reading of 50.9, which is up from 49.5 compared to October.
Economists had expected the figure to be 50.5, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics and any score above 50 shows the sector is growing.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said, “UK service providers moved back into expansion mode during November as stabilising demand conditions helped to lift business activity from its recent malaise.
“Although only marginal, the upturn in service sector output was the fastest since July and slightly stronger than the earlier ‘flash’ estimate for November.”
Dr John Glen, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), said, “Amongst the general malaise in customer confidence impacting on demand, there was the biggest rise in new orders since July and export orders since August.
“A softening in the headline rate of inflation and improved raw material prices set the scene for some clients to commit to new work, while the remainder stayed mostly cautious until there were stronger improvements in the UK economy.”
He added, “There was also an end to the job losses recorded by service businesses every month since September, so this could be another signal that this is the start of a more sustainable revival for 2024.”
