Service sector employee, nurse at a hospital. (Photo: REUTERS)
The Non-Manufacturing Report on Business, the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of service-sector growth fell to 54.8 last month from 57.1 in September. The reading missed the median forecast calling for a reading of 56.
Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below point to contraction.
The report comes before the U.S. presidential election, in which the economy has largely been drown out by personal attacks from both sides. In truth, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has done her best to distract from the issue, which voters trust Donald Trump more on by substantial margins.
The 13 service sector industries reporting growth in October — listed in order — are: Transportation & Warehousing; Construction; Other Services; Management of Companies & Support Services; Information; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Real Estate, Rental & Leasing; Wholesale Trade; Utilities; Finance & Insurance; Retail Trade; Accommodation & Food Services; and Health Care & Social Assistance.
The 5service sector industries reporting contraction in October are: Educational Services; Mining; Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting; Public Administration; and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation.
| ISM® NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY RESULTS AT A GLANCE COMPARISON OF ISM® NON-MANUFACTURING AND ISM® MANUFACTURING SURVEYS* OCTOBER 2016 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Manufacturing | Manufacturing | ||||||||
| Index | Series Index Oct |
Series Index Sep |
Percent Point Change |
Direction | Rate of Change |
Trend** (Months) |
Series Index Oct |
Series Index Sep |
Percent Point Change |
| NMI®/PMI® | 54.8 | 57.1 | -2.3 | Growing | Slower | 81 | 51.9 | 51.5 | +0.4 |
| Business Activity/Production | 57.7 | 60.3 | -2.6 | Growing | Slower | 87 | 54.6 | 52.8 | +1.8 |
| New Orders | 57.7 | 60.0 | -2.3 | Growing | Slower | 87 | 52.1 | 55.1 | -3.0 |
| Employment | 53.1 | 57.2 | -4.1 | Growing | Slower | 5 | 52.9 | 49.7 | +3.2 |
| Supplier Deliveries | 50.5 | 51.0 | -0.5 | Slowing | Slower | 10 | 52.2 | 50.3 | +1.9 |
| Inventories | 52.0 | 51.5 | +0.5 | Growing | Faster | 2 | 47.5 | 49.5 | -2.0 |
| Prices | 56.6 | 54.0 | +2.6 | Increasing | Faster | 7 | 54.5 | 53.0 | +1.5 |
| Backlog of Orders | 52.0 | 52.0 | 0.0 | Growing | Same | 2 | 45.5 | 49.5 | -4.0 |
| New Export Orders | 55.5 | 56.5 | -1.0 | Growing | Slower | 2 | 52.5 | 52.0 | +0.5 |
| Imports | 53.0 | 51.0 | +2.0 | Growing | Faster | 9 | 52.0 | 49.0 | +3.0 |
| Inventory Sentiment | 62.0 | 64.5 | -2.5 | Too High | Slower | 233 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Customers’ Inventories | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 49.5 | 53.0 | -3.5 |
| Overall Economy | Growing | Slower | 87 | ||||||
| Non-Manufacturing Sector | Growing | Slower | 81 | ||||||
* 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.
