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Sustained drop in UK private sector employment amid weaker business optimism and rising cost inflation in November
UK private sector firms indicated a fractional decline in business activity during November, thereby ending a 12- month period of sustained expansion. At the same time, new order growth eased to its lowest for one year amid widespread reports of fragile business confidence. Concerns about the business outlook, as well as stronger input price inflation, impacted negatively on workforce numbers in November. Marginal reductions in private sector employment have been recorded in each of the past two months, with survey respondents often citing the non-replacement of voluntary leavers to help offset forthcoming rises in ... (full story)