by Tara Cunningham, Business Reporter
Telegraph.co.uk
UK business activity suffers ‘biggest fall’ ever
UK business activity suffered its biggest fall ever, data from Markit showed this morning. The Business Activity Index fell to 47.4 in July, from 52.3 in June, signalling a fall in UK services output.
This was the first contraction since December 2012, and the rate of decline was the strongest since March 2009. Moreover, the month-on-month decline in the Index in the latest period, at 4.9 points, was the largest observed since the survey began in July 1996.
Chris Williamson, of Markit, said: “The PMI is already deep into territory which would normally spur the Bank of England into taking action to stimulate the economy.