CBI reports high growth across multiple sectors
ECONOMIC growth in the UK has reached its highest rate in a year, according to a new survey from the Confederation of British Industry.
The CBI’s latest growth indicator shows that growth sped up in all three main sectors (manufacturing, retail and business/professional services) for the three months to May. Business/professional services outperformed manufacturing and retail, recording its fastest growth in business volumes in nearly a decade, according to the CBI.
The business group’s growth indicator is based on data collected from just over 800 firms.
The CBI said that, based on the most-recent results, it expected robust growth to continue. But the business group also said that the balance among sectors was likely to change in the coming months, with a slowdown in business/professional services alongside stronger growth in retail.
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI director of economics, said the survey’s results backed up the CBI’s belief that weaker-than-expected GDP growth in the early months of 2015 “will be short-lived.”
“A stellar increase in activity in the business and professional service sector and retail sales bounding ahead are clear indications of strong business and consumer confidence and increased spending power,” Newton-Smith said.