Off the wire
• Xinhua Insight: China's theater industry at a loss for words  • Urgent: Defence minister elected Latvia's new president  • Dortmund officially present new head coach Thomas Tuchel  • 1st LD Writethru: Defence minister elected Latvia's new president  • Press photo contest ends in Russia, encourages young photographers  • U.S. trade deficit in April shrinks as imports fall  • Namibia's Brave Warriors get prize for regional triumph  • Iraqi military on offensive agsint IS in central Salahudin province  • Saudi Arabia names terrorists linked to suicide bomb attacks, offers cash rewards  • OECD must tackle job insecurity to promote growth: ITUC  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. service sector slows expansion pace in May

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Economic activity in the U.S. service sector eased growth momentum in May, an industry survey showed on Wednesday.

The Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI), which measures activity in the U.S. service sector, registered 55.7 in May, 2.1 points lower than April's reading, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in its monthly survey.

The NMI survey covers all sectors outside of manufacturing. A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion of the service sector.

The new orders component of the index, a signal of future business, went down 1.3 points to 57.9. The component of employment decreased 1.4 points from April to 55.3, and the business activity index decreased 2.1 points to 59.5 in May.

The 15 industries tracked by the ISM reported growth while only mining industry reported contraction.

Respondents were positive about business conditions and expected the economic growth will continue, said the report.

The NMI index is closely watched because the service sector absorbs about 90 percent of the U.S. workforce, and is a key indicator for the overall health of the economic recovery.

On the contrary, the country's manufacturing sector picked up growth in May. The ISM report showed on Monday that the manufacturing index, also known as the purchasing managers index ( PMI), registered 52.8 in May, up from April's reading of 51.5. Endite