ELECTION UNCERTAINTY
UK services sector slows as car sales decrease
London — Britain’s services sector grew less than expected and car sales dropped in May, as businesses and consumers put off big decisions before this week’s national election, damping expectations of a strong rebound from a weak first quarter. British economic growth slowed to just 0.2% in the first three months of 2017 — the weakest among the world’s top advanced economies — as the cost of the pound’s fall following 2016’s Brexit vote caught up with consumers. Many economists have said they expect growth in the current quarter to rebound partially to about 0.4% or 0.5%, but some said weakness in Monday’s services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) made this less likely. "The pullback in the services PMI in May from April’s four-month high is a setback to widespread hopes the economy’s slowdown in the first quarter will be fleeting," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Financial data company IHS Markit, which published the survey, said the services PMI h...
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