Service sector rebound countered by job fears

Britain’ s service sector has witnessed its fastest growth rate since 2015 amid a postlockdown rebound but firms ramped up “fierce” job cuts amid the fallout from the pandemic.

The closely-watched IHS Markit/cips services purchasing managers’ index( PM I) recorded a score of 58.8 for August, up from 56.5 in July – signalling the second month in a row of grow th and the sharpest increase since April 2015. However, the rate of jobcutting across the sector accelerated at its fastest rate since May and is now at levels that outstripped even those seen during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at survey compiler IHS Markit, said further “fierce” job-cutting in August was a sign that the mini-boom may not last.

Richard B err y, founder of Goodmoneyguide.com, said: “Bumps lie in the road ahead for the UK’S largest and most totemic sector.”