MW: March ISM services index drops to 54.4% from 56.0%
By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Business was not quite as brisk at U.S. service-sector companies in March, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM said its survey of purchasing managers - the executives who buy supplies for their companies - fell to 54.4% last month from a 12-month high of 56% in February. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the index to dip to 55.8%. Reading over 50% signal that more companies are expanding instead of shrinking. Fifteen of the 18 industries tracked by Tempe, Ariz.-based ISM reported growth last month, up from 13 in the prior month. The ISM's new-orders index declined 3.6 percentage points to 54.6% and the employment gauge slid to 53.3% from 57.2%, adding to other evidence suggesting that the pace of new job creation tapered off in March.
