LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - The pace of contraction in Britain's services sector eased in the first quarter of this year although the manufacturing sector plumbed new lows, a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce showed on Tuesday.
Following are the key findings: SERVICES Q1 Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1 Home sales -23 -31 -7 -2 17 Home orders -29 -36 -13 -7 14 Export sales -11 -9 13 9 17 Export orders -10 -13 9 6 10 Employment expectations -12 -24 3 8 21 Investment - plant and mac. -21 -27 -2 5 8 Confidence - turnover -12 -23 10 17 40 Confidence - profitability -23 -34 -12 1 17 Full capacity ^ 38 36 39 38 42 Cashflow -26 -32 -14 -10 5 Prices 3 4 38 41 43 MANUFACTURING Q1 Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1 Home sales -55* -38 -13 -3 12 Home orders -52* -48 -17 -5 8 Export sales -27** -12 3 28 16 Export orders -28** -19 -4 22 16 Employment expectations -35 -41 -11 -1 9 Investment - plant and mac. -38* -22 -4 2 12 Confidence - turnover -38* -32 4 32 43 Confidence - profitability -48* -39 -11 5 27 Full capacity ^ 20 29 37 40 40 Cashflow -32*** -28 -11 -15 -3 Prices -7 0 42 45 42
* Lowest since series began in 1989.
** Lowest since Q3 1998
*** Lowest since series began in 1991
All figures are expressed as a percentage balance of firms reporting an increase over those reporting a decrease, except categories marked (^) which show a pure percentage of firms.