Activity in the UK private sector hit a six-month high in December, boosted by a pick-up in the services sector, figures showed Friday.
At 51.7 in December, up from 50.7 in November, the headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global/CIPS Flash UK PMI composite output index pointed to the fastest rise in private sector business activity since June.
“Higher levels of business activity were supported by a renewed improvement in order books, alongside efforts to work through post-pandemic backlogs,” the survey said.
The UK services PMI business activity index registered 52.7 compared to 50.9 in November, a six-month high, but manufacturing remained subdued.
The manufacturing PMI hit a two-month low at 46.4 compared to 47.2 in November.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “The UK economy continues to dodge recession, with growth picking up some momentum at the end of the year to suggest that GDP stagnated over the fourth quarter as a whole.”
But he noted it was “a dual-speed economy, with manufacturing contracting sharply while services regained some poise”.
He felt the services sector’s resilience and sticky inflation picture “will add to speculation that it’s too early for the Bank of England to be talking about cutting interest rates”.