The agreement reached between the European Union and the United Kingdom also created more bureaucracy for carriers in the entry of goods and affected all the last equipment in the production chain.
According to a Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) compiled by consultancy IHS Markit and CIPS, UK private sector firms experienced a sharp slowdown in production growth during August despite a backlog of work that increased for a sixth year. consecutive month.
According to the analysis, the incidences of production declines due to a shortage of personnel or materials were fourteen times higher than normal and the highest since the survey began in January 1998.
Participants attributed the high levels of activity to the reopening of the British economy and the subsequent improvement in demand for consumer and business services, but staff shortages limited the recovery.
Duncan Brook, director of CIPS Group, said the abnormally large slowdown in general activity in August signaled a “severe warning for the UK economy”.
“This was the slowest expansion of production in six months, and the main reason for this was the worst shortage of people and recorded materials,” he said.
According to the CEO, “Finding the right skills has been difficult for companies, which means that job seekers have the best option in terms of opportunities and the service sector has been hiring at a faster rate than at any other time in recent years. 25 years and stronger wage demands have followed suit.”
Chris Williamson, an economist at IHS Markit, said: “Although coronavirus containment measures have fallen to their lowest level since the pandemic began, the rise in virus cases is inhibiting many forms of spending, particularly from consumers, and has affected growth through downsizing. and shortages of supplies.
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