The latest services PMI from S&P Global shows the sector is growing at its slowest for 11 months. Downturns…
Services PMI dropped sharply to 50.5 in March, down from 53.9 in February. This is the lowest reading since April 2025 and below the flash estimate of 51.2. New orders fell for the first time since November 2025 and the pace of contraction the sharpest in eight months…
Input cost and output charge inflation are both recorded at an 11-month high. Employment continues to fall…
The PMI notes:
“March data indicated that backlogs of work remained broadly unchanged, despite frequent reports of international shipping delays and worsening supply chain performance. Service providers generally suggested that they had sufficient capacity to meet new and existing workloads. A lack of pressure on business capacity, alongside the need to mitigate rising payroll costs, contributed to a further reduction in staffing numbers during March.”
Export sales declined at the fastest rate since April 2025 and business optimism is now at its lowest in nine months. Imagine for a moment a fantastical world in which Labour attempted to lower the operating costs for businesses…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”