Taking less volatile figures for the last three months together, food sales rose but non-food sales were down. A closely watched survey released on Monday suggested those pressures were also hurting the services sector, which a wide range of businesses from banks to hotels. The sector momentum in May and grew at the slowest pace since February, according to the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI report, which gauges sentiment among some 650 firms. The poll, which excludes government services and retail but still covers half of the overall services sector, is used by investors and policymakers to help predict GDP growth. Its latest figures showed consumer spending growth slowed to 2.8% year on year in May, the weakest for 10 months.

Source: The Guardian June 06, 2017 04:52 UTC