London — Britain’s economy came close to stagnating again in February as services companies, preparing for Brexit, cut staff at the fastest rate in more than seven years and consumers reined in their spending, surveys showed on Tuesday.
After touching its lowest level in January since immediately after the Brexit referendum in 2016, the services PMI edged up to 51.3 from 50.1. That was better than the median forecast of 49.9 in a Reuters poll of economists.But Howard Archer, an economist with EY Item Club, a forecasting firm, said the risk was very real that economic growth in the first quarter of 2019 would be weaker than his forecast of 0.2%.
Britain’s economy defied forecasts of a recession after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU. But growth slowed sharply in late 2018 as worries mounted about the possibility of an abrupt, no-deal Brexit on March 29, and the global economy also weakened.
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