ISM: Services Economy Growing More Than Expected

The report for Non-Manufacturing data from the Institute of Supply Management, the ISM, is showing a hotter than expected reading.  The full index came in 57.3 rather than the drop expected.  Bloomberg and Dow Jones both had a consensus target of 56.0 and the reading for January was 56.8.

The non-manufacturing ISM survey is comprised from over 375 firms from numerous sectors: agriculture, mining, construction, transportation, communications, wholesale trade and retail trade. The non-manufacturing index has four equally weighted components: business activity, new orders, employment, and supplier deliveries

The business component was up to 62.6 from 59.5; employment managed to drop to 55.7 from 57.4; the prices component was 68.4 verus 63.5; and the new orders component was up to 61.2 from 59.4.