UK Private Sector Activity Rises to 22-Month High in World Economy News 21/02/2026 The UK S&P Global Composite PMI rose to 53.9 in February of 2026 from 53.7 in the previous month, ahead of market expectations of 53.3 for the highest reading since April of 2024, according to a preliminary estimate. Output growth rose to a 17-month high for manufacturers (53.6 vs 51.6 in January), while it remained at a historically elevated level for services providers (53.9 vs 54). New work at the aggregate increased at the strongest pace since September 2024, with firms citing improving sales pipelines and new consumer wins despite fragile economic conditions. Despite the higher orders, employment levels decreased further with employers blaming rising labor costs due to increased National Insurance contributions. The higher labor costs were combined with higher commodity prices to maintain input inflation elevated, driving output charge inflation to its highest in ten months. Looking forward, firms still signaled strong confidence in business activity for the next year. Source: Trading Economics 2026-02-21 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share