ISM service gauge falls to 41.8, but well above estimates

Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector contracted in April for the first time since December 2009, ending a 122-month period of growth, say the nation’s purchasing and supply executives in the latest Non-Manufacturing ISM^® Report On Business^®.

The report was issued today by Anthony Nieves, CPSM, C.P.M., A.P.P., CFPM, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management^® (ISM^®) Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee: “The NMI^® registered 41.8 percent, 10.7 percentage points lower than the March reading of 52.5 percent. This reading represents contraction in the non-manufacturing sector and is the NMI^®’s lowest since March 2009 (40.1 percent). The Business Activity Index fell 22 percentage points from March’s figure, registering 26 percent — the lowest reading for that index since the debut of the Non-Manufacturing ISM^® Report On Business^® in 1997. The New Orders Index registered 32.9 percent, 20 percentage points below the reading of 52.9 percent in March. The Employment Index decreased to 30 percent, 17 percentage points below the March reading of 47 percent.