Performance of Services Sector Increases in Jan 2011: says ISM

Added by Gary Dunn on February 7, 2011

According to a report, released Thursday, the performance of the services sector in the United States increased greatly in the month of Jan 2011. This performance rate is the highest since the month of August of 2005.

According to the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), its index for gauging the nation-wide non-manufacturing activity surged upwards from 57.1 in the month of December 2010 to reach 59.4 in the month of January 2011.

The above is in comparison to the forecasted median of 57.0 from the 68 economist who were surveyed by Reuters. If this index goes above, it indicates that service sector is expanding while if it goes below 50, it means that the service sector has contracted.

The current index in fact represents growth for the last 14 consecutive months of growth.

This report bringing this favorable news has arrived just two days after the Tuesday’s report by ISM which revealed that Jan 2011 witnessed the manufacturing sector of the United States growing at the top most speed as compared to that of the last 7 years.

According to report, the employment component of the index increased from 52.6 to 54.5 and witnessed its peak level in the previous month since the month of May 2006.