British service sector growth accelerated to its highest in more than two years in June supported by the strongest gain in new businesses since 2007, a survey by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply showed Wednesday.
The headline Business Activity Index recorded 56.9 in June, the highest since March 2011. In May, the index showed a reading of 54.9. Readings above 50 indicates expansion of the sector.
Growth has now been recorded for six successive survey periods. Economists had forecast a marginal fall in the index to 54.5.
New orders expanded at the fastest pace since June 2007 and this encouraged companies to add jobs at the sharpest pace since August 2007.
Confidence among service providers hit a 14-month high in June, the survey found. Both input and output prices accelerated in June. Despite the increase, output price inflation was modest and was much below that of input costs.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.