US Services Growth Cools While Orders, Business Activity Pick Up
- ISM services PMI decreased 0.8 point in February to 52.6
- Employment measure declined; gauge of prices paid dropped
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Growth in the US service sector cooled in February, partly due to a decline in employment even as orders and business activity quickened.
The Institute for Supply Management’s composite gauge of services slipped 0.8 point to 52.6 last month. The index has held above the 50 level that indicates expansion for more than a year. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 53.