Economy

ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) Cools in March to 5-Month Low

A service sector employee sits at his desk. (Photo: REUTERS)

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) grew for the 87th consecutive month, but cooled to a 5-month low at 55.2% in March. Of the 18 non-manufacturing industries, 15 reported growth in March while 3 reported contraction.

“The sector continues to reflect growth; however, the rate of growth has declined since last month,” Anthony Nieves, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “The majority of respondents’ comments indicate a positive outlook on business conditions and the overall economy. There were several comments about the uncertainty of future government policies on health care, trade and immigration, and the potential impact on business.”

ISM^® NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY RESULTS AT A GLANCE COMPARISON OF ISM^® NON-MANUFACTURING AND ISM^® MANUFACTURING SURVEYS* MARCH 2017
	Non-Manufacturing						Manufacturing
Index	Series Index Mar	Series Index Feb	Percent Point Change	Direction	Rate of Change	Trend** (Months)	Series Index Mar	Series Index Feb	Percent Point Change
NMI^®/PMI^®	55.2	57.6	-2.4	Growing	Slower	87	57.2	57.7	-0.5
Business Activity/Production	58.9	63.6	-4.7	Growing	Slower	92	57.6	62.9	-5.3
New Orders	58.9	61.2	-2.3	Growing	Slower	92	64.5	65.1	-0.6
Employment	51.6	55.2	-3.6	Growing	Slower	37	58.9	54.2	+4.7
Supplier Deliveries	51.5	50.5	+1.0	Slowing	Faster	15	55.9	54.8	+1.1
Inventories	48.5	52.0	-3.5	Contracting	From Growing	1	49.0	51.5	-2.5
Prices	53.5	57.7	-4.2	Increasing	Slower	12	70.5	68.0	+2.5
Backlog of Orders	53.0	54.0	-1.0	Growing	Slower	2	57.5	57.0	+0.5
New Export Orders	62.5	57.0	+5.5	Growing	Faster	2	59.0	55.0	+4.0
Imports	56.5	51.0	+5.5	Growing	Faster	3	53.5	54.0	-0.5
Inventory Sentiment	65.0	64.5	+0.5	Too High	Faster	238	N/A	N/A	N/A
Customers’ Inventories	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	47.0	47.5	-0.5
Overall Economy				Growing	Slower	92
Non-Manufacturing Sector				Growing	Slower	87

* Non-Manufacturing ISM^® Report On Business^® data is seasonally adjusted for the Business Activity, New Orders, Prices and Employment Indexes. Manufacturing ISM^® Report On Business^® data is seasonally adjusted for New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries.

** Number of months moving in current direction.

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PPD Business Staff

PPD Business, the economy-reporting arm of People's Pundit Daily, is "making sense of current events." We are a no-holds barred, news reporting pundit of, by, and for the people.