WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Growth in the U.S. service sector slowed in July as businesses grappled with higher prices, the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly survey shows. (ISM) released Thursday.
The ISM services index stood at 52.7 last month after 53.9 in June when economists polled by Reuters on average expected a figure of 53.0.
The bar of 50 separates growth and contraction of activity.
The price paid sub-index accelerated to 56.8 from 54.1 in June, suggesting it will take longer than expected to bring inflation back towards the Federal Reserve’s 2% target US, despite raising its interest rates by 525 basis points since March 2022.
Some economists consider the ISM sub-index of prices paid in services to be a good leading indicator of personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation.
The component of new orders received by service businesses fell from 55.5 to 55.0 in July, while employment slowed in July, to 50.7 from 53.1.
(Report by Lucia Mutikani; French version by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
2023-08-03 14:22:40
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