•The seasonally adjusted Index of Services increased by 0.8 per cent in February 2012 compared with February 2011 •Three of the four service sector components increased in the most recent month compared with the same month a year ago •Business services & finance and government & other services both rose by 1.1 per cent. These were the largest contributions to the increase •Between January 2012 and February 2012, service sector output decreased by 0.4 per cent (full story)