EmailEconomic
Last Update: 03-May-12 10:14 ET
ISM Services
Highlights
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index fell from 56.0 in March to 53.5 in April. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to fall to 55.5.
Key Factors
- Business activity/production growth slowed in April as the respective index fell from 58.9 in March to 54.6. The slowdown in production was in-line with the reduction in new orders growth, which dipped from 58.8 in March to 53.5 in April. Backlogs reentered an expansion, increasing from 49.5 in March to 53.0 in April.
- The employment index fell from 56.7 in March to 54.2 in April.
Big Picture
- The market generally doesn't pay much attention to the services index because the service sector is less cyclical than the manufacturing sector. During the recession, the service index held steady around 50.0% through September 2009 before bottoming at 37.4% in November 2008. Since then, the service index has slowly risen back and finally broke the 50.0% barrier. In contrast, the manufacturing index, with the exception of January 2009, stayed below 50% from December 2008 through July 2009 and bottomed at 32.9% in December 2008.
| Category | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Manufacturing ISM index | 53.5 | 56.0 | 57.3 | 56.8 | 53.0 |
| Business Activity | 54.6 | 58.9 | 62.6 | 59.5 | 55.9 |
| New Orders | 53.5 | 58.8 | 61.2 | 59.4 | 54.6 |
| Employment | 54.2 | 56.7 | 55.7 | 57.4 | 49.8 |
| Deliveries (nsa) | 51.5 | 49.5 | 49.5 | 51.0 | 51.5 |
| Inventories (nsa) | 54.0 | 54.0 | 53.5 | 47.0 | 48.5 |
| Exports (nsa) | 58.0 | 52.5 | 54.5 | 56.5 | 51.0 |
| Imports (nsa) | 56.5 | 56.0 | 52.0 | 55.0 | 54.0 |
| Prices Paid | 53.6 | 63.9 | 68.4 | 63.5 | 61.2 |
