- Prior 54.0
- Final Composite PMI 53.7 vs 53.9 prelim
- Prior 53.7
Key findings:
- Business activity rises for tenth month running in February
- New order growth loses momentum
- Job cuts persist amid pressure on margins from rising costs
Comment:
Tim Moore, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:
"Business activity continued to pick up across the UK service economy in February, with growth holding close to the five-month high seen at the start of 2026. Survey respondents commented on rising new business intakes and improving sales pipelines. This was linked to greater business and consumer spending, especially in domestic markets. Export orders were relatively subdued, however, and the rate of expansion slipped to a three month low.
"February data pointed to a solid reduction in employment numbers, despite a sustained recovery in business activity. Job losses reflected ongoing efforts to focus on boosting productivity and mitigate sharply rising input costs.
"Higher payroll costs were widely cited as leading to a strong pace of overall input cost inflation. Greater food prices and technology costs were also reported in February. This contributed to another robust increase in prices charged by service providers, with the pace of inflation little-changed from January's five-month high."
