November PMI® survey data from IHS Markit and CIPS signalled that the UK service sector remained on a firm growth path towards the end of 2016. The rate of expansion of total activity accelerated further to the strongest since January. Employment growth picked up to the fastest since April, partly fuelled by the sharpest build-up of outstanding work since July 2015. The strength of long-term business sentiment weakened for the first time since July, however, attributed to ongoing political uncertainty and inflationary pressures. The survey’s headline figure is the seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Services PMI Business ... (full story)