The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) has released its October services purchasing managers' index (PMI). The headline composite index is at 56.0, better than the forecast of 53.8. The latest reading moves the index back into expansion territory for 50th time in the past 53 months.
Here is an excerpt from the report summary:
Miller continues, “The increase in the Services PMI® in October was driven by boosts of more than 4 percentage points for both the Employment and Supplier Deliveries indexes. The Business Activity and New Orders indexes both dropped by at least 2 percentage points. Each of the four subindexes are now above their averages for 2024. The Supplier Deliveries Index remained in expansion in October, indicating slower delivery performance. Concerns over political uncertainty were again more prevalent than the previous month. Impacts from hurricanes and ports labor turbulence were mentioned frequently, although several panelists mentioned that the longshoremen’s strike had less of an impact than feared due to its short duration.”
Unlike its much older kin, the ISM manufacturing series, there is relatively little history for ISM's non-manufacturing data, especially for the headline composite Index, which dates from 2008. The chart below shows the non-manufacturing composite.
