UK services sector enjoys fastest growth for over five years, but job losses mount

Britain’s dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace for more than five years in August, but firms ramped up ‘fierce’ job cuts in the face of the pandemic, according to new figures Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA

There were further signs of a post-lockdown mini-boom in the UK economy after figures showed the fastest service sector growth since 2015, but firms ramped up “fierce” job cuts in the face of the pandemic.

The closely-followed IHS Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) recorded a score of 58.8 in August, up from 56.5 in July – signalling the second month in a row of growth and the sharpest increase since April 2015.