United Kingdom is heading for recession due to stagnation of services

The UK It could lead to the first recession since the financial crisis because the uncertainty of Brexit impacted the service industry, the most important in the country, more than expected.

The growth of the sector almost stagnated last month, IHS Markit said when publishing its purchasing managers PMI index on Wednesday. Similar surveys indicate that the country's manufacturing and construction industries are in crisis and the readings imply that the economy will contract 0.1% in the third quarter, Markit said.

Production fell 0.2% in the three months until the end of June, which means that, if the forecasts are met, the country would have entered into a recession even before leaving the European Union at the end of next month.

"Business activity in the services sector almost stagnated in August because brexit-related concerns intensified, which slowed down both business and consumer spending," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at Markit. "The absence of significant growth in the services sector increases the likelihood that the UK economy will fall into a recession."

The worst could be to come before the fear that the Boris Johnson government could attempt a withdrawal without agreement. Those concerns, supercharged by the risk of impending elections, have punished the pound. The sterling fell below US $ 1.20 for the first time since early 2017 on Tuesday.

Markit's index for eThe service sector fell to 50.6 last month, below the expectations of economists of a reading of 51. Business optimism fell to its lowest level from the period immediately after the 2016 referendum, while inflation of input prices accelerated to its strongest level since January.

Similar reports earlier this week showed that the UK manufacturing sector is at its worst slowdown since 2012, while the construction industry contracted for the fourth consecutive month. Even so, most analysts still predict that overall growth will recover in the quarter until the end of September, due in part to a new accumulation of stocks before the date of October 31 exit.