Slowdown nowhere to be seen as UK business picks up the pace
Firms across the UK are showing little sign of a slowdown, with rising business activity across the country bucking expectations for a slowdown last month.
The proportion of companies reporting growth was up across the country last month, according to Lloyds’ regional purchasing managers’ index (PMI), with a reading of 58.8 for the UK, and 59.3 for England.
Any score over 50 indicates that more firms are reporting growth – and the national figure rose from June’s 57.9. The north east of England led the survey once again, with a reading of 64.
Last week, a similar survey of services firms by Markit and the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply told a similar story, with the strongest reading of any month in 2014 so far.
The Bank of England and other forecasters had expected a relative slowdown in growth during the second half of the year.