Sections: Economy

Non-Manufacturing Report On Business (NMI): Service Sector Cooled in February

(PHOTO: REUTERS)

The Non-Manufacturing Report On Business (NMI), the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of U.S. service sector growth fell to 53.4 from 53.5 in January. Still, the NMI beat the median forecast, which called for a sharper decline to 53.2. Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in February for the 73rd consecutive month, as readings above 50 even if they fall indicate contraction.

Readings below 50 indicate contraction.

The 14 non-manufacturing industries reporting growth in February—listed in order—are: Accommodation & Food Services; Management of Companies & Support Services; Real Estate, Rental & Leasing; Utilities; Construction; Finance & Insurance; Transportation & Warehousing; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Public Administration; Health Care & Social Assistance; Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting; Educational Services; Information; and Wholesale Trade. The three industries reporting contraction in February are: Mining; Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; and Retail Trade.

ISM^® NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY RESULTS AT A GLANCE COMPARISON OF ISM^® NON-MANUFACTURING AND ISM^® MANUFACTURING SURVEYS* FEBRUARY 2016
	Non-Manufacturing						Manufacturing
Index	Series Index Feb	Series Index Jan	Percent Point Change	Direction	Rate of Change	Trend** (Months)	Series Index Feb	Series Index Jan	Percent Point Change
NMI^®/PMI^®	53.4	53.5	-0.1	Growing	Slower	73	49.5	48.2	+1.3
Business Activity/Production	57.8	53.9	+3.9	Growing	Faster	79	52.8	50.2	+2.6
New Orders	55.5	56.5	-1.0	Growing	Slower	79	51.5	51.5	0.0
Employment	49.7	52.1	-2.4	Contracting	From Growing	1	48.5	45.9	+2.6
Supplier Deliveries	50.5	51.5	-1.0	Slowing	Slower	2	49.7	50.0	-0.3
Inventories	52.5	51.5	+1.0	Growing	Faster	11	45.0	43.5	+1.5
Prices	45.5	46.4	-0.9	Decreasing	Faster	2	38.5	33.5	+5.0
Backlog of Orders	52.0	52.0	0.0	Growing	Same	2	48.5	43.0	+5.5
New Export Orders	53.5	45.5	+8.0	Growing	From Contracting	1	46.5	47.0	-0.5
Imports	55.5	46.0	+9.5	Growing	From Contracting	1	49.0	51.0	-2.0
Inventory Sentiment	62.0	61.5	+0.5	Too High	Faster	225	N/A	N/A	N/A
Customers’ Inventories	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	47.0	51.5	-4.5
Overall Economy				Growing	Slower	79
Non-Manufacturing Sector				Growing	Slower	73

* Non-Manufacturing ISM^® Report On Business^® data is seasonally adjusted for Business Activity, New Orders, Prices and Employment Indexes. Manufacturing ISM^® Report On Business^® data is seasonally adjusted for New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries.

** Number of months moving in current direction.

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PPD Business Staff

PPD Business, the economy-reporting arm of People's Pundit Daily, is "making sense of current events." We are a no-holds barred, news reporting pundit of, by, and for the people.