UK services sector growth slows Britain's services sector continued to expand in April, though it lost some momentum, according to an unofficial survey of the sector that accounts for about three-quarters of the UK economy. The Markit purchasing managers" index for the services sector fell from 55.3 in March to 53.3 in April, suggesting business activity expanded at the slowest pace since November last year. Vicky Redwood, an economist at Capital Economics, said the survey echoed similar data on the manufacturing and construction sectors that together suggest "the second quarter has got off to a soft start." She said it made for a slightly trickier decision for the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which meets next week to decide whether or not to approve another dose of quantitative easing to stimulate the economy. "We still think that the recent stickiness of inflation will prompt the MPC to pause its QE programme, but if the recent weaker tone of the activity data continue, as we expect, more asset purchases are likely later in the year," she said. The PMI surveys do not always correlate with the official data accurately but economists find them useful as a timely indication of the economy's general momentum and the MPC is believed to pay close attention to them. In the first quarter of this year, the PMI surveys suggested the economy grew about 0.5 per cent from the previous quarter, whereas the subsequent official estimate was that it shrank 0.2 per cent. There were positive signs in the PMI data. The index for employment rose from 51.7 to 52.2, which suggests hiring is picking up. "The strength of the employment sector suggests that the UK is not in the type of economic situation that would commonly be associated with a recession," said Steven Bryce at Credit Suisse. Indeed, it seems plausible that the strength of the employment figures suggest some underlying confidence in the economic situation on the part of business community. The index for "business expectations" rose to 72.6, the highest in more than two years. Markit said: "A number of panellists were buoyed by recent new contract wins and expect this to continue in line with positive pipelines and forecasts of an improvement in underlying economic conditions." Respondents reported a sharp rise in input costs, however, which was not matched by a sharp rise in prices charged, suggesting profitability could be under pressure.