UK service sector output and employment fall at much slower pace in February

According to the report from IHS Markit/CIPS, February data indicated that a degree of stability returned to the UK service sector after the sharp downturn in output at the start of 2021. Restrictions on travel, leisure and hospitality due to the national lockdown continued to curtail overall activity, but there were some pockets of growth in technology and business services. Staffing levels decreased at the slowest pace since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic first hit employment numbers last March. Furlough arrangements again softened the degree of job shedding among consumer service providers, while there were also reports that improving optimism towards the business outlook had helped to stabilise employment. Vaccine roll out progress and confidence about the prospect of looser restrictions on trade resulted in a fourth consecutive monthly rise in business expectations across the service economy.

The headline seasonally adjusted UK Services PMI Business Activity Index registered 49.5 in February, up sharply from an eight-month low of 39.5 in January. The headline index has posted below the crucial 50.0 no-change mark in each month since November 2020, but the latest reading signalled the slowest decline in service sector output over this period.