Companies in the U.S. that offer services, such as health care, retail goods and financial advice, grew in August at the slowest pace since 2010, according to a survey of senior executives. The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index fell to 51.4% last month from 55.5% in July. Reading over 50% signal that more businesses are expanding instead of contracting, but it was the weakest showing since February 2010, shortly after the end of the Great Recession. The new-orders index plunged to 51.4% from 60.3%, marking the lowest level since the end of 2013. Production showed a similarly big decline and the employment gauge fell slightly to 50.7%. Some executives noted that business often slows toward the end of summer and then picks up. Yet some also said they were taking a wait-and-see approach. The vast majority of Americans are employed in service-oriented businesses that account for much of U.S. growth. If the slowdown persists, that would not bode well for the U.S. economy in the months ahead. “The business environment has softened a bit over the last month,� said a senior executive at a retail er. The economy is “good but slowing from previous months,� a wholesale executive said. The survey is compiled from a questionnaire of the executives who buy supplies for their companies and it tends to rise and fall in step with the broader economy. Another ISM survey that covers manufacturing turned negative in August.

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