September data revealed a continued upturn in business activity across the UK service sector, although the rate of expansion edged up only slightly since August and remained weaker than seen on average in the first half of the year. Relatively subdued domestic demand acted as a drag on activity growth, with the latest rise in incoming new work the slowest for 13 months.

At the same time, service providers remained under pressure from sharply rising operating expenses, which contributed to the fastest rate of prices charged inflation since April.

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS Services PMI Business Activity Index posted 53.6 in September, up from an 11-month low of 53.2 in August. Looking at Q3 as a whole, growth has eased slightly since the previous quarter (the index averaged 54.3 in Q2, compared to 53.5 in Q3)