Recession starts to rage as UK service sector sees first decline since February 2021
The UK’s service sector saw activity decline last month for the first time since February last year.
The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI survey showed a reading of 48.8 in October, down from 50 in the previous month.
Any reading above 50 is considered growth, below that means the sector is shrinking.
It was nevertheless ahead of the expectations of economist, who had predicted a 47.5 reading.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “UK service providers reported the steepest drop in business activity for 21 months in October as household spending cutbacks and shrinking business investment combined to dent new order volumes.
“A number of firms noted that political uncertainty and rising borrowing costs since the mini-budget had led to greater risk aversion among clients and a wait-and-see approach to new projects.
“There were also many reports that higher energy bills had led to reduced spending on non-essential services.”