LONDON: Britain’s economy is ending 2017 lagging the euro zone’s strong recovery as the effects of last year’s Brexit vote weigh on shoppers and on businesses, according to a range of data released on Tuesday. The dominant services sector lost some momentum in November while prices charged by companies rose at their fastest pace in nearly 10 years, potentially adding to the country’s inflation problem, a closely watched survey showed. Another report showed shoppers spent more of their budgets on the rising cost of food, while car sales fell for the eighth month in a row in November. Britain’s economy withstood the initial shock of the Brexit vote in 2016 but has slowed sharply this year as the pound’s plunge following the referendum pushed up inflation and hit households at a time when wages are growing only sluggishly. Companies have meanwhile slowed investment as they wait to see what leaving the European Union means for them, potentially adding to Britain’s weak productivity growth — another drag on the economy. Prime Minister Theresa May failed to clinch a deal on Monday to open talks on post-Brexit free trade with the European Union after a tentative deal with Dublin to keep EU rules in Northern Ireland angered her political allies in Belfast. Published in Daily Times, December 6th 2017.