Economic growth accelerated in the final month of 2016, as companies across Britain’s powerful services sector reported rising demand in December.
Growth in the sector rose to its highest level in 17 months, according to IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), as companies recovered from the blow to confidence inflicted by the Brexit vote.
Uneducated, ill-informed Remoan types had feared the referendum result would harm the economy but, so far, there is
little evidence of any widespread slowdown.
The services PMI rose to 56.2, up from 55.2 in November. Any score above 50 indicates rising business activity, while a score below 50 shows output falling.
In July the index dropped to 47.4, so December’s figure represents a major turnaround from the gloom of the summer.
The services industry makes up almost 80pc of the UK economy, and the positive figures follow healthy numbers for
companies in the manufacturing and construction sectors, too.
“A buoyant service sector adds to signs that the UK economy continues to defy widely held expectations of a Brexit-driven slowdown,” said Chris Williamson, IHS Markit’s chief business economist.
“Collectively, the PMI surveys point to the economy growing by 0.5pc in the fourth quarter, with growth accelerating to a 17-month high at the year end.”
As a result companies are keen to keep on hiring, which may indicate that
the halt in employment growth in the most recent official figures was a pause rather than an end to the recent spell of labour market growth.
2 clowns not very happy but the rest of us will be having a party