UK PMI Services was finalized at 47.6 in November, down from October’s 51.4. It’s the first contraction reading in five months. PMI Composite was finalized at 49.0, down from October’s 52.1, first contraction since June amid national lockdowns. Markit also noted the fastest drop in employment for three months. Though, year-ahead business optimism hit nine-month high.
Tim Moore, Economics Director at IHS Markit: “New lockdown measures and tighter pandemic restrictions unsurprisingly tipped UK private sector output back into decline during November…. Hopes that the pandemic will be brought under control from an effective vaccine resulted in a sharp improvement in business optimism during November. Across the UK private sector as a whole, confidence about the year ahead outlook reached its highest since March 2015. That said, survey respondents also cited rising business uncertainty in the short-term, largely due to ongoing restrictions on trade, which contributed to another round of job cuts and efforts to rein in discretionary spending during November.”
