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UK economy set for first-quarter hit but vaccines are raising recovery hopes

03 February 2021 20:08 (UTC +04:00)

Britain’s third national coronavirus lockdown has put the economy on course for a sharp contraction in early 2021, but services companies - buoyed by progress on vaccinations - are confident about recovery, a survey showed on Wednesday, APA reports citing Reuters.

The final version of the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) - spanning services businesses and manufacturers - fell to 41.2 in January from 50.4 in December, far below the growth threshold of 50.0.

This was the index’s lowest reading since May. But it was up slightly from a preliminary reading of 40.6 for January and was nothing like as weak as during Britain’s first lockdown last spring when it slumped to 13.8.