The ISM Services Index registered 66.7% in October; 4.8 percentage points higher than the September reading of 61.9%. This reading represents the seventeenth straight month of growth for the services sector, which has expanded for all but two of the last 141 months.
Eighteen non-manufacturing industries reported growth. Survey respondents noted “Manufacturers are failing to keep up with orders, and backlogs continue to grow. We’ve seen proposed pricing increases of more than 20 percent in areas of equipment manufacturing. This is extremely concerning.”
The Business Activity Index registered 69.8% in October, an increase of 7.5 percentage points from the September reading of 62.3%. This represents growth for the seventeenth consecutive month.
Service sector employment grew in October for the fourth month, and registered 51.6% in October, 1.4% lower than September. Twelve industries reported growth in employment for the month.
The New Orders Index was 69.7%, an increase of 6.2 percentage points from the September reading of 63.5%. Comments from respondents include: “Increase in new business in a developing sector of our company” and “Pulling orders forward in order to contain constraint impact.”
The supplier deliveries index registered 75.7% in October, which is 6.9 percentage points higher than the 68.8% reported in September. A reading above 50% indicates slower deliveries.
Read the ISM release.
