Market turmoil sent UK's service sector into decline

BRITAIN'S output fell for the first time in a year and half following market turbulence last month, prompting fears that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s £40billion tax raid has damaged the services economy.

- Mauricio Alencar

The services sector, seen as the engine behind growth, had been on a 17-month winning streak, according to S&P Global’s latest purchasing managers’ index.

But data suggests its downturn in April pushed overall output into the red, flattening Ms Reeves’s hopes of delivering faster growth.

Researchers at S&P Global said that business activity in the sector contracted due to the “impact of global financial market turbulence” and a further acceleration in job cuts.