The British services sector grew the most in eight months in April, led by marked gains in new business, which prompted firms to continue with robust pace of job creation, survey results from Markit Economics revealed Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK Services Purchasing Managers' Index for the services sector rose to 59.5 from 58.9 in March. Economists had expected a score of 58.5. A PMI reading above 50 suggests expansion in the sector.
The latest reading was the highest since August last year and the British services sector has now expanded for 28 months in a row, which is the longest sequence of growth in seven years.
Firms attributed the improvement in activity to new business wins, stronger economic confidence and warm weather, the survey said. While sustained solid increase was witnessed in input costs, mainly due to wage pressures, firms cut selling prices for the first time since October and at the fastest rate since February 2012.
"Fears of the economy slumping amid election jitters are allayed as an upturn in service sector activity has helped offset sharp slowdowns in both manufacturing and construction. The PMI surveys suggest the economy is showing robust growth momentum, expanding at a rate of 0.8% at the start of the second quarter," Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said.
"As such, it looks like the economy has rebounded from the weakness seen at the start of the year. But there are warning lights flashing about the sustainability of growth, and any new government is faced with the challenge of boosting business confidence and reviving investment in particular."
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.