Britain: Business activity at a three-month low

The growth of the British private sector started at the weakest pace in recent months in April, as shown by the data of the S&P Global / CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

In particular, the services PMI in the country fell to 58.9 points in April from 62.6 in March, reaching its lowest level since January, when the British economy was hit by the new Omicron variant and business confidence had fallen. at a low of 18 months.

Respectively, the composite PMI – which includes manufacturing PMI data released on Tuesday – fell to 58.2 points from 60.9, while its sub-price data recorded a high since 1999.

It is recalled that the official consumer price index showed that annual inflation reached a 30-year high of 7% in March, with many economists believing that it will approach double digits later in the year due to rising energy prices.

“Double winds of the cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine began to ‘bite’ the UK service sector in April, as evidenced by the sharp slowdown in new orders to the lowest level of the year so far,” he said. S&P Global CEO Andrew Harker.

S&P Global, however, noted that companies continued to increase their staffing levels to meet higher demand, albeit at a slower pace than in January.

Source: Capital

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