AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,941 Increased By 63.6 (0.92%)
BR30 22,802 Increased By 233 (1.03%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)

LONDON: Britain's private sector business activity is slowing sharply on the back of shortages of staff and raw materials, a key survey showed on Friday.

The composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) slowed to a four-month low of 57.7 points in July, compilers IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply said in a statement.

The reading compared with a reading of 62.2 in June, but held above the key 50 level to indicate expansion.

"The speed of recovery was the weakest since March, with survey respondents widely reporting staff and raw material shortages due to the pandemic," the statement said. "Concerns about the loss of momentum contributed to the lowest degree of optimism towards the business outlook for nine months."

Many firms face cost pressures and supply challenges, despite recovering economic growth and resurgent demand after England fully emerged from lockdown this month.

Businesses suffer from runaway costs as a result of shortages of raw materials, which in turn fuels inflationary pressures.

Sentiment also remains blighted by spiking UK infections of the fast-spreading Delta variant of coronavirus.

Business leaders have urged the UK government to re-think its Covid isolation policy - which has sparked millions of staff absences across the country.

Soaring infection rates had also "cast a darkening shadow over the outlook", he noted.

Millions of workers are currently forced to stay at home under the so-called "pingdemic" after being contacted, or pinged, by a phone app which orders them to self-isolate, or by health authorities conducting contact tracing. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) had warned Thursday that the manufacturing outlook was clouded by soaring costs and self-isolating staff.

Comments

Comments are closed.