Services Industries Growth in U.S. Caps Best Quarter Since 2004

Service industries grew in September, capping the strongest quarter of expansion in more than 10 years for the biggest part of the U.S. economy.

While the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index fell to 58.6 from the prior month’s 59.6, the third-quarter average was the highest since the first three months of 2004, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed today. Readings above 50 signal expansion. The median forecast of 78 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 58.5.