Britain's services sector logs sustained upturn in business activity

LONDON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain's services business activity continued solid expansion in February, supported by gradually improving demand, a report released by S&P Global showed on Wednesday. Read full story LONDON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain's services business activity continued solid expansion in February, supported by gradually improving demand, a report released by S&P Global showed on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) Business Activity Index came in at 53.9 last month, little changed from January's five-month high of 54.0, according to the report. Service providers indicated an upturn in overall new work for the third successive month in February. The company attributed stronger domestic demand to be the main driver of the expansion in sales as new work from abroad was close to stalling. A number of firms cited subdued economic conditions across Europe, while those reporting growth often noted new business gains in the U.S. and emerging markets. However, there were reports of challenging market conditions for clients in areas such as leisure, hospitality and construction, while job losses across the sector continued the trend seen since October 2024. "February data pointed to a solid reduction in employment numbers, despite a sustained recovery in business activity, said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. He noted that job losses reflected ongoing efforts to focus on boosting productivity and mitigate sharply rising input costs, with higher payroll costs widely cited as leading to a strong pace of overall input cost inflation. Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates! Report a mistake What is the issue about? Spelling and grammatical error Factually incorrect Story is irrelevant This field is mandatory. Please provide details of the report. Email (optional) Please enter valid email. Report issue Cancel Invalid captcha response. Please re-try again. Thank you for your report!