Service sector growth drops off

Figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply show that service industries are continuing to grow - but at a slightly slower rate. This is said to be good for the UK economy overall, as it reduces any motivation for interest rates to rise.

Two reasons are offered for the slowdown.

Numerous IT projects appear to have gone on hold in the run up to the millennium. In a report published some months ago, business consultants KPMG predicted that many organisations would be pre-occupied by Y2K preparations. They project an 'explosion' in financial and human resources dedicated to IT - and especially internet - projects some time after 2000.

The second reason is somewhat more prosaic. Higher than usual levels of holiday time were booked in July, coinciding with the eclipse.

Elliott Chase