Economy

Non-Manufacturing Report On Business: Service Sector Expands in March

Service sector employee, nurse at a hospital. (Photo: REUTERS)

The Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of U.S. service sector growth, increased to 54.5 in March. The NMI, which is up from 53.4 in February, beat the median economic forecast for a reading of 54.

“According to the NMI, 12 non-manufacturing industries reported growth in March,” said Anthony Nieves, chair of the Institute for Supply Management Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.”The majority of respondents’ comments indicate that business conditions are mostly positive and that the economy is stable and will continue on a course of slow, steady growth.”

Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below point to contraction.

SERVICE SECTOR INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE IN MARCH

The 12 non-manufacturing industries reporting growth in March — listed in order — are: Educational Services; Information; Wholesale Trade; Finance & Insurance; Health Care & Social Assistance; Retail Trade; Mining; Management of Companies & Support Services; Accommodation & Food Services; Public Administration; Utilities; and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services. The two industries reporting contraction in March are: Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; and Transportation & Warehousing.

ISM^® NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY RESULTS AT A GLANCE COMPARISON OF ISM^® NON-MANUFACTURING AND ISM^® MANUFACTURING SURVEYS* MARCH 2016
	Non-Manufacturing						Manufacturing
Index	Series Index Mar	Series Index Feb	Percent Point Change	Direction	Rate of Change	Trend** (Months)	Series Index Mar	Series Index Feb	Percent Point Change
NMI^®/PMI^®	54.5	53.4	+1.1	Growing	Faster	74	51.8	49.5	+2.3
Business Activity/Production	59.8	57.8	+2.0	Growing	Faster	80	55.3	52.8	+2.5
New Orders	56.7	55.5	+1.2	Growing	Faster	80	58.3	51.5	+6.8
Employment	50.3	49.7	+0.6	Growing	From Contracting	1	48.1	48.5	-0.4
Supplier Deliveries	51.0	50.5	+0.5	Slowing	Faster	3	50.2	49.7	+0.5
Inventories	52.5	52.5	0.0	Growing	Same	12	47.0	45.0	+2.0
Prices	49.1	45.5	+3.6	Decreasing	Slower	3	51.5	38.5	+13.0
Backlog of Orders	52.0	52.0	0.0	Growing	Same	3	51.0	48.5	+2.5
New Export Orders	58.5	53.5	+5.0	Growing	Faster	2	52.0	46.5	+5.5
Imports	53.0	55.5	-2.5	Growing	Slower	2	49.5	49.0	+0.5
Inventory Sentiment	62.5	62.0	+0.5	Too High	Faster	226	N/A	N/A	N/A
Customers’ Inventories	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	49.0	47.0	+2.0
Overall Economy				Growing	Faster	80
Non-Manufacturing Sector				Growing	Faster	74

* 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.