U.S. ISM Services Activity, Employment Gauges Downshift Abruptly
Outside tables sit turned over outside a closed arcade in Asbury Park, New Jersey on March 26.
Photographer: Cate Dingley/BloombergMeasures of business activity and employment at U.S. services contracted in March, an abrupt reversal from solid growth the previous month and evidence of the swift economic carnage dealt by the national health crisis.
The Institute for Supply Management said Friday its gauge of business activity at non-manufacturers, which parallels the ISM’s factory production index, tumbled 9.8 points to 48. The measure of employment at services, which include restaurants and retailers that bore the initial brunt of the virus-related business closures, lost 8.6 points to 47. Readings below 50 indicate contraction, and both were the largest monthly declines since 2008.