UK Service Sector Maintains Lackluster Growth

(RTTNews) - The UK service sector logged further subdued growth at the end of the fourth quarter, final survey results from S&P Global showed on Tuesday.

The S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers' Index posted 51.4 in December, up slightly from 51.3 in November. The flash score was 52.1.

The persistent marginal expansion was attributed to challenging business conditions and sales headwinds from subdued UK economic prospects, as well as constrained client spending linked to domestic political uncertainty.

New orders showed a renewed upturn in December amid improved sales pipelines in both domestic and export markets on the back of a general upturn in demand conditions.

In line with rising new business, backlogs of work rose for the first time since May 2023, while employment continued to decline due to elevated pay pressures and squeezed margins as reasons for the non-replacement of voluntary leavers.

On the price front, input price inflation accelerated to a 7-month high, driven by higher wages and fuel costs. As a result, selling price inflation increased sharply.

Looking ahead, British service providers remained confident about business activity expectations for the next year, buoyed by confidence in forthcoming business investment plans, alongside lower borrowing costs and hopes of a sustained turnaround in business and consumer spending.

The composite output index rose slightly to 51.4 in December from 51.2 in November, indicating that the British private sector remained in the expansion zone for the eighth successive month.