LONDON, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain's services sector expanded in January, with the seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index (PMI) pointing to an increase in business activity at the start of 2026, according to a report released by S&P Global on Wednesday.
The headline S&P Global UK Services PMI Business Activity Index stood at 54.0 in January, up from 51.4 in December 2025, the data showed.
Services companies attributed the higher level of business activity to greater confidence among clients, the start of new projects and a post-Budget improvement in investment sentiment.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that output growth was the fastest in five months, supported by an uplift in investment sentiment and stronger new order intakes.
But he also cautioned that services providers still reported that consumer demand was constrained by squeezed disposable incomes, while risk aversion in response to geopolitical tensions continued to hold back business spending.
"Services sector companies appear cautiously optimistic about their growth prospects for the next 12 months," he said, underlining renewed gloomy signals for the British labour market outlook as staff hiring decreased at a steeper pace in January amid firms' efforts to offset rising payroll costs. ■