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London - Growth in services companies that form the bulk of Britain's economy slowed in the three months to August, according to a survey on Tuesday that suggested the swift pace of economic recovery has eased recently.
The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) quarterly survey of more than 200 companies showed growth in business volumes slowed across a broad range of types of service, although almost all expected to see an improvement in the next three months.
"This doesn't necessarily mean a gear change in the recovery," said Katja Hall, deputy director general of the CBI.
"It's encouraging that our services sector firms continue to feel upbeat, especially when looking ahead to the next quarter."
Markit's purchasing managers' surveys of the services sector for May to June also showed a slight easing in the rate of growth, although it remained high.
The CBI survey also showed companies are increasingly struggling to find the right staff, which could crimp new business volumes and capital expenditure.
Skills shortages bite
A separate report from industrial lobby group EEF suggested skills shortages are forcing manufacturers to pay above inflation rewards to retain and attract staff.
Its survey showed that pay settlements among manufacturers ran at around 2.6% from February to July, far outstripping official wage growth figures over the same period.
British workers as a whole earned less between April and June than they did in the same period last year, despite the rate of unemployment falling, though this was partly due to tax changes in 2013.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said policymakers need to have confidence that wages will start rising sustainably before raising interest rates, although they would not necessarily need to wait for this to happen before doing so.
