Service sector slowdown could lead to ‘flatline at best’

The UK’s dominant services sector grew at its slowest rate of the year in July and will “flatline at best” in coming months. The latest purchasing managers’ index from S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply said higher borrowing costs exerted a toll both on consumer spending and business confidence. The headline business activity reading fell to 51.5 in July, in line with what economists had expected but down from 53.7 in June. July marked the sixth straight month that the reading has been in positive territory, although it was the service sector’s weakest performance over that period, having fallen in each of the past three months. The Times (£)