Global| Apr 03 2009U.S. ISM Nonmanufacturing Index Falls Again
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The service sector remains under pressure. The March Composite Index for the nonmanufacturing sector from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) slipped further to 40.8 from an unrevised February reading of 41.6. Consensus [...]
The service sector remains under pressure. The March Composite Index for the nonmanufacturing sector from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) slipped further to 40.8 from an unrevised February reading of 41.6. Consensus expectations were for a reading of 42.0. For the quarter as a whole, the index edged up to 41.8 from the low of 40.7 during 4Q '08. A level of the ISM index below 50 indicates declining activity. Since the series' inception in 1997 there has been a 48% correlation between the level of the business activity index in the nonmanufacturing sector and the Q/Q change in real GDP for the services and the construction sectors.
Despite the decline in the overall index, the business activity index improved last month. The employment index, however, offset that rise with a decline to near the cycle low. Since the series' inception in 1997 there has been a 56% correlation between the level of the ISM nonmanufacturing employment index and the m/m change in payroll employment in the service-producing plus the construction industries.
Beginning with the January 2008 Nonmanufacturing Report On Business®, the composite index is calculated as an indicator of the overall economic condition for the non-manufacturing sector. It is a composite index based on the diffusion indices for four of the indicators (business activity, new orders, employment and supplier deliveries) with equal weights. The latest report from the ISM can be found here.
ISM surveys more than 370 purchasing managers in more than 62 industries including law firms, hospitals, government and retailers. The nonmanufacturing survey dates back to July 1997.
Credit Market Competition and the Nature of Firms from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is available here.
| ISM Nonmanufacturing Survey | March | February | March '08 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index | 40.8 | 41.6 | 49.9 | 47.4 | 53.5 | 55.7 |
| Prices Index | 41.5 | 46.5 | 75.5 | 66.0 | 63.8 | 65.3 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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