Only four of fourteen business sectors experienced growth in July, according to Lloyd’s tracker
Only four out of fourteen UK business sectors experienced growth in July of this year, one more than in June, according to the latest Lloyds’ UK Sector Tracker.
Software and services, financial services – which includes insurance providers, banks and other financial services firms – and food and drink manufacturing continued to expand after also growing in June, and were joined in July by real estate.
All other sectors, including transportation, tourism and recreation and healthcare contracted during the period.
For a fourth successive month, software and services grew at the fastest rate of any of the 14 sectors monitored.
The tracker includes indices compiled from responses to S&P Global's UK manufacturing and services PMI survey panels, covering around 1,300 private sector companies. Indecies vary between 0 and 100 on the tracker, with a reading of above 50 indicating growth compared to the previous month.
A statement issued with the report stated that growth in many of the markets had been “marginal”.
It said: “Growth in real estate and food and drink manufacturing was marginal – sitting just above the 50.0 level that signifies expansion – and the pace of growth in software and services slowed sharply month-on-month (53.5 in July vs. 58.5 in June).
“Real estate was the only sector to see a rise in new orders in July (50.2), although this too was marginal.
“July marked the eleventh consecutive month in which more than half of the 14 monitored sectors saw a decline in new orders. In July, nine of the 14 sectors reported higher output growth expectations for the year ahead – one more than in June.”
Nikesh Sawjani, senior UK economist at Lloyds, said: “Our latest data shows that the three sectors that grew in June did so again in July and were joined by a fourth to indicate a slight broadening of growth across the UK economy. However, with softer demand conditions, businesses might be considering how durable this latest pickup will be.
“It is encouraging that confidence in output expectations for the year ahead picked up in nine of the 14 sectors, with the most buoyant being in key industries including food and drink, healthcare and software and services.”
According to the tracker, the rate of overall cost inflation dropped to its lowest level this year, with nine sectors reporting that costs rose at a slower pace than the month before – the most since October 2024.
In addition, reports of rising staffing costs fell to their lowest level since January.
Six sectors raised their prices at a faster rate in July, while two sectors – automobile and auto part manufacturers and healthcare services – reduced their prices month-on-month.