ISM Shows Higher Prices, Slower Employment Growth

The Institute for Supply Management, or the ISM, managed to show that the nonmanufacturing sector posted its 33rd consecutive month of growth. The ISM’s Report on Business showed a reading of 55.1% for the month of September. This is above the 53.7% recorded in August and above expectations. Dow Jones was calling for only 53.1% and Bloomberg was calling for 53.1%.

The Business Activity Index came in at 59.9%, 4.3 percentage points higher than the 55.6% reported in August. The New Orders Index came in at 57.7%, an increase of 4 percentage points from August.

The Prices Index rose by 3.8 percentage points to 68.1%, indicating higher month-over-month prices when compared to August. Employment Index came in at 51.1%, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points since August, an indicator that growth in employment came at a slower rate.

Higher prices and slower growth in employment for the nonmanufacturing sectors. This is not a major indication that we are going to see any great jobs data on Friday’s unemployment report, even if the ADP employment outlook this morning was slightly higher than expected.

JON C. OGG