UK pulling out of recession as services sector growth hits 11-month high
Activity in the UK’s services sector rose at the fastest rate nearly a year in April, as spending was boosted by improved consumer and business confidence, according to new data.
The S&P Global UK services PMI survey scored 55.0 in April, up from 53.1 in March, and above estimates from economists.
It was also the fastest rate of business activity growth since May last year.
Any reading above 50 indicates that the services sector is growing, while anything below that implies it is shrinking.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global, said:
The latest survey results are consistent with the UK economy growing at a quarterly rate of 0.4% and therefore pulling further out of last year’s shallow recession. Relief at a turnaround in the economic outlook was commonly cited as a factor supporting sales pipelines in April. However, there were also reports that clients remained somewhat risk averse and under pressure from elevated inflation.