23rd Sep 2024 09:57
(Alliance News) - The UK private sector economy remained in growth territory this month, though progress slowed across the board, numbers on Monday showed.
The flash UK composite purchasing managers' index declined to 52.9 points in September, from 53.8 in August. The latest reading was a two-month low, but remained above the 50 point threshold which separates growth from decline.
The composite PMI is calculated using manufacturing and service sector readings.
The flash manufacturing PMI fell to 51.5 points in September, from August's final reading of 52.5. The services PMI slipped to 52.8 from 53.7. The latest readings represented a three-month low for manufacturing and a two-month low for services.
"UK private sector firms indicated a sustained upturn in business activity during September, marking 11 months of continuous expansion. However, output growth slowdowns in both manufacturing and services meant that the overall speed of recovery moderated for the first time since June," survey publisher S&P Global said.
"Private sector employment growth slowed for the second month running to its weakest since June. Service providers signalled only a marginal increase in staffing numbers, while manufacturers indicated renewed job cuts. Anecdotal evidence suggested that tight budgets, ongoing business uncertainty and rising wages had all been a factor weighing on recruitment in September."
All-in-all, the latest data should provide some encouragement, S&P Global analyst Chris Williamson said.
"The September PMI data bring encouraging news, with robust economic growth being accompanied by a cooling of inflationary pressures. The data therefore hint at a 'soft landing' for the UK economy, whereby the fight against inflation is showing increasing signs of being won without higher interest rates having caused a downturn," the analyst added.
"A slight cooling of output growth across manufacturing and services in September should not be seen as too concerning, as the survey data are still consistent with the economy growing at a rate approaching 0.3% in the third quarter, which is in line with the Bank of England's forecast."
Final September data for the manufacturing sector is published on October 1, with the service and composite readings two days later.
The composite PMI survey features a panel of 650 firms, with the flash data encompassing around 85% of the responses.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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