Details of the December 2016 UK Markit/CIPS services PMI data report 5 January 2017
Prior 55.2
New orders 58.1 vs 54.9 prior
Input and charged prices at the highest since Apr 2011
Composite 56.7 vs 55.0 exp. Prior 55.2. Revised to 55.3
New orders 58.2 vs 55.0 prior
Another PMI that's busting higher.
Employment was unchanged following Nov's 7 month high and Markit note that over 2016, the employment trend was weaker than in 2013/14/15.
Markit's Chris Williamson says "A buoyant service sector adds to signs that the UK economy continues to defy widely-held expectations of a Brexit-driven slowdown. The faster growth of services activity follows similar news of improvements in the manufacturing and construction sectors at the end of 2016.
Collectively, the PMI surveys point to the economy growing by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, with growth accelerating to a 17-month high at the year-end."
GBPUSD is back up through 1.23 to 1.2315.
UK services PMI
