Job Cuts Accelerate in Warning Sign for Defiant UK Labor Market
- Closely watched survey signals UK economy remains stagnant
- Job cuts in PMI at a pace seen in the financial crisis
An employee dresses a mannequin at clothing store in Birmingham.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergUK businesses stepped up the pace of job cuts in February, according to a closely watched survey, boding ill for a labor market that has so far held up in the face of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ huge increase in payroll taxes.
S&P Global said its key purchasing managers’ index was little changed at 50.5 versus 50.6 in January, just above the 50 threshold separating growth and contraction. Economists had expected no change. Private-sector companies, it said, faced a “stagflationary” backdrop and new work dried up.