The UK Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) today said that its index of business activity in the service sector fell to a seasonally adjusted 52.3 in January from 53.2 in the previous month. The drop in the service-sector index in January was bigger than expected, with the consensus of analysts' forecasts tipping a slight fall to 53.1. While this is the thirteenth straight month that the UK service sector has expanded, according to the CIPS survey, the January reading is the lowest since February 2002, and marks the third straight monthly decline in the index.
"Weaker growth of activity levels principally reflected the combination of slower expansion of new business and a further sharp contraction in levels of uncompleted work in hand," CIPS said. The sub-index for incoming new business and new orders in the service sector fell to 52.8 in January, from 53.0 in December. //www.fxcentre.com