Proactive Investors - Britain’s manufacturing and service sectors weighed on overall business growth this month as uncertainty built ahead of next month's Budget.
Flash purchasing managers index (PMI) figures from S&P Global on Monday showed a reading of 52.9 for September, against the 53.8 seen in August.
This meant an 11-month streak of improving private sector activity continued, but at a slower rate than previously.
S&P reported “fragile client confidence and ongoing inventory cutbacks” weighed on the service and manufacturing sectors, with industry members also pointing to caution ahead of October’s Autumn Budget.
Economist Chris Williamson reassured the PMI figures remained “encouraging” though, with a reading above 50 indicating continued growth.
“A slight cooling of output growth across manufacturing and services in September should not be seen as too concerning, as the survey data are still consistent with the economy growing at a rate approaching 0.3% in the third quarter,” he said.
Business confidence ticked up over the month, he added, while ongoing cooling of service inflation meant further Bank of England rate cuts were still likely this year.