Business activity in the U.K. services sector rebounded in April from a 20-month low in March, a survey showed Thursday. The reading marked a bounce in the U.K. services sector on month, although the figure was still the index’s second-lowest reading since September 2016.
Thursday’s services PMI release marked the third signal that U.K. economic growth was slow in April. It followed the lowest manufacturing PMI reading in 17 months on Tuesday and construction PMI, released Wednesday. The services survey adds to signs that the rate of economic growth remained disappointingly subdued at the start of the second quarter. The three PMI surveys collectively showed only a muted rebound in business activity after being disrupted by heavy snowfall in March, failing to regain February’s pace of growth to suggest that the underlying performance of the economy has continued to deteriorate