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		</div><p>The UK economy is expected to have picked up from a sharp slump at the beginning of the year after output in Britain&#8217;s powerhouse services sector surged to a four-month high in April.</p>
<p>The closely-watched Markit/CIPS purchasing managers&#8217; index (PMI) reached 55.8 last month up from 55.0 in March and above economists&#8217; forecasts of 54.4. A reading above 50 indicates growth. The jump in services activity was underpinned by the fastest growth in new work this year, driven by robust business-to-business demand, new product launches and rising sales abroad.</p>
<p>The result delivers a hat-trick of good news for the UK economy after separate PMI figures earlier this week showed manufacturing output reached a three-year high in April and the construction sector rebounded to record its fastest growth this year.</p>
<p>Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said the three surveys point to UK gross domestic product (GDP) growing at 0.6% at the beginning of the second quarter after GDP slumped to 0.3% in the first quarter of this year.</p>
<p>&#8220;While we expect consumer spending to slacken in coming months, with the April survey highlighting continued weakness in sectors such as hotels, restaurants and other household-facing businesses, there&#8217;s good reason to believe that at least 0.4% GDP growth can be achieved in the second quarter as a whole.</p>
<p>He added: &#8220;The strengthening of growth and the upturn in prices will bolster calls for higher interest rates. &#8220;But weak growth in the consumer sector remains a concern, and is something which could intensify in coming months as consumer prices rise further.&#8221;</p>
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