In October, the seasonally adjusted chained-volume index for output of the services sector rose 0.1% compared with the previous month, following upwardly revised 0.5% growth in September.

On the year, the service sector’s decline moderated to 3.7% in October from 3.8% in September.

The figures were weaker than the 0.3% monthly rise and 3.1% annual decline forecast by a number of City economists last week.

In quarterly terms, services sector output fell 0.2% compared with the previous three months, and 3.9% compared with a year earlier.

The breakdown of the data showed the annual decline was driven by falls in business services and finance, which sank 6% on the year. Output from hotels and restaurants also fell 7.7% on the year, while output of transport, storage and communication fell 4.9%.

On the positive side, output from distribution is up 0.4%, the ONS said.

Howard Archer, a senior economist at Global Insight, said the service sector numbers were not overly negative.

“Despite the slowdown in growth in October, it nevertheless marked the first time that service sector activity had expanded for two successive months since February 2008,” he said.