{
  "id": 12122022,
  "title": "UK services sector marks two years of job losses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/uk-services-sector-marks-two-years-of-job-losses",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-05T09:42:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/uk-services-sector-marks-two-years-of-job-losses/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The UK's services sector has faced two consecutive years of job losses, according to recent data from S&P Global. Despite modest growth, the sector has experienced continuous employment declines over the past two years, driven by higher payroll costs and increased use of artificial intelligence. The monthly purchasing managers' index (PMI) for September fell to 52.1, indicating that the private sector is still expanding but crossing the 50-figure threshold for neutrality. Martin Beck, chief economist at WPI Strategy, cautioned about the risks to inflation, noting that input-cost inflation in services had reached a three-month high, and firms were raising prices at the fastest rate since May. The upcoming months may pose significant challenges for consumers in Britain, with the Bank of England anticipating inflation to exceed four percent in early 2025. Economic analysts have raised concerns about potential tax increases to help the Bank of England meet its borrowing targets, especially if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to the Iran war.",
  "summary": "The UK’s dominant services sector has suffered two years of continuous job losses despite moderate growth against the backdrop of intense trading disruption and high borrowing costs, new data has indicated. Researchers at S&P Global said a fall in employment over September across services firms meant the sector had now suffered two consecutive years of [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}