UK service providers recorded a robust and accelerated upturn in business activity during April, supported by a renewed strengthening of order books. Survey respondents often commented on a boost to sales from improving client confidence and signs of a turnaround in underlying economic conditions. That said, the rate of job creation was only marginal and the lowest in 2024 so far as firms typically opted to remain focussed on limiting margin pressures. Higher wages, partly driven by a considerable rise in the National Living Wage in April, resulted in the sharpest overall increase in input costs since August 2023. In ... (full story)