United Kingdom: Services PMI rises in August
The S&P Global United Kingdom Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) improved to 53.7 in August from 52.5 in July. As a result, the index moved further above the 50.0 no-change threshold, and signaled a faster improvement in services-sector business activity compared to the previous month.
In August, the UK service sector saw a robust increase in business activity and new orders, primarily driven by improved domestic demand. Employment numbers rose for the eighth month in a row, reflecting efforts to manage rising workloads. However, there was a marked reduction in backlogs of work, the sharpest in 12 months. Moreover, export sales growth was marginal, with Brexit-related issues continuing to impact sales to EU clients.
Input and output price pressures both dropped to multi-year lows in August. Finally, business sentiment moderated from July, partly due to uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Budget, which is likely to include tax rises and spending cuts.