Growth in Britain’s private sector as well as confidence among consumers remained strong in the new year, according to the surveys published on Monday.
A CBI report showed that growth slowed down from the final quarter of last year, down from December’s +17 to January’s +10 balance points, but nonetheless remained strong across the board.
But Rain Newton-Smith, CBI’s chief economist, showed concern regarding the likely rising inflation over the upcoming months.
“[it] will erode consumer incomes, while the impact of uncertainty since the (Brexit) referendum may cause investment spending to slow this year,” he said.
CBI surveyed over 750 firms across the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors about output, sales and business volumes to draw up its Growth Indicator.
Another survey from Deloitte also showed a decrease in consumer confidence, as it dipped to -6 from a series high of -5 in the three months prior to January.
However, it concluded that this is still an improvement over last year’s levels, when few believed the UK would vote to pull itself out of the European Union.
“So far, Brexit has not dented consumers’ confidence about the outlook for jobs,” Deloitte economist Ian Stewart said.
“However the New Year sees the arrival of headwinds that may challenge the current consumer-friendly economic conditions.”