The economy staged a sharp recovery in the second quarter of this year and may have returned to anaemic growth, figures published on Friday suggest.

The combined purchasing managers’ index for services, manufacturing and construction industries jumped to an average of 49.4 in the three months to June, compared with the depressed level of 40.8 in the first quarter.

Chris Williamson, economist at Markit, which compiles the data, said that this level was historically consistent with growth in gross domestic product of 0.1 per cent in the second quarter.

“It does highlight the extent to which conditions eased,” in that period, Mr Williamson said.

However, the purchasing managers’ indices have been suggesting higher levels of growth than those recorded in official output measures across the economy, and the Bank of England has warned against reading too much into their relative strength.

After downwards revisions to growth earlier this week, which showed the biggest contraction in the economy in 50 years in the first quarter, the PMIs look even more out of line.

“It is hard to put too much faith in the survey when such a wide gap has recently opened up with the official data,” said Vicky Redwood, of Capital Economics.

Ben Broadbent, economist at Goldman Sachs, argued that gross domestic product estimates tended to be revised higher over time, however, and that in the past the PMIs had provided a more accurate guide to growth than early GDP releases.

The signs of possible growth in the combined PMI for the second quarter came as the PMI survey of the services sector showed a second month of growth, although the pace of the recovery appeared to stall.

The purchasing managers’ index for services, compiled by CIPS/Markit, was at 51.6 last month, down by 0.1 points on May and below the consensus forecast of 52. The slightly lower reading, while still suggesting business activity increased, comes after much larger rises in the previous three months, underlining fears that the recovery will be sluggish.

Optimism in the service sector rose to its highest since the run on Northern Rock heralded the spread of the credit crisis from the markets to the high street. However, new business fell more swiftly than in May and more jobs were cut. “Any recovery is going to be gradual and subdued,” Mr Williamson said.

The average reading for the PMIs since they began in 1996 is 55.2.

The suggestion of stalling growth in services also comes after the largest six-month rise in the index’s history as the decline of the economy eased rapidly.

“Given the substantial gains recorded by the services PMI survey – up by 11.4 points over the past six months, way ahead of its euro area and US equivalents – the marginal pull back in June is hardly a cause for alarm,” said Ross Walker, economist at RBS.