The increasingly difficult business climate – high inflation, reduced purchasing power, and general market instability – once again, similarly to the previous months, led to sharp falls in output and new orders, S&P Global said.
On the price front, costs and charges continued to rise at slower rates although high inflation continues to be eroding purchasing power.
At the same time, employment fell for a third consecutive month and at the sharpest pace in over two years, with firms choosing to not replace leavers or invoke forced redundancies.
