Asked by: Jeremy Quin (Conservative - Horsham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the Purchasing Managers' Index as an indication of future trends in the level of employment.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Recent business surveys show that momentum in the economy has continued. The PMI surveys show a broad-based pickup in activity in late 2016, with output growth reaching a 17-month high in December. This is also reflected in the employment level which currently stands at a historically high level of 31.8m, and has increased by 342,000 over the past year.