On Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management reported a modest deceleration in the growth of the U.S. service sector for February. According to ISM, the services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 52.6 after an increase to 53.4 in the previous month, January. Analysts had forecasted a slight drop, but only to 53.0.
A significant factor in the larger than estimated downturn of the PMI was a decline in employment, demonstrated by the employment index that dipped to 48.0 in February, down from 50.5 in January. Despite this, any PMI reading over 50 still pertains to growth within the sector.
