LONDON, Oct 3 Reuters British services firms lost some momentum but continued to grow in September and the prices they charged rose at the slowest pace in almost four years, according to a survey likely to be welcomed by the Bank of England.

The SP Global UK Services Purchasing Managers Index published on Thursday dropped to 52.4 last month from 53.7 in August which was its fastest since April.

September39;s reading was also lower than a preliminary estimate of 52.8.

The September PMI surveys suggest that the UK economy is still on a positive trajectory, with improving order books accompanied by cooling inflationary pressures, Tim Moore, Economics Director at SP Global Market Intelligence, said.

Most encouragingly, prices charged inflation in the service sector, which acts as a barometer of domestic inflationary pressures, edged down to its lowest since February 2021.

The BoE is watching service sector prices as it tries to assess inflation pressure in the economy. Investors largely expect the BoE to follow up on its August interest rate cut with another cut in November after pausing in September.

The slowdown in prices charged by services firms was the third in a row reported by the monthly PMIs although it remained higher than the historical average. Prices paid by firms edged up from a 43month low in August.

The survey also showed strength in order books mainly from domestic clients which boosted business expectations for the year ahead.

However, there was…