Service Industries Sustain Gain as U.S. Hiring Climbs [View all]
Source: Bloomberg
By Michelle Jamrisko - Feb 5, 2013
Service industries in the U.S. expanded in January at about the same pace as the prior month, driving demand for more workers and helping cushion the economy in the face of the Washington budget battle.
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index slipped to 55.2 from a 10-month high of 55.7 in December, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. Readings above 50 signal expansion. The group’s employment gauge was the strongest in seven years.
More jobs improve the odds that the recent pickup in consumer spending will be sustained as households deal with the two percentage-point increase in the payroll tax. The gain, coming just as lawmakers try to fashion a budget compromise, indicates companies such as MasterCard Inc. and PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) will keep benefiting from growing demand.
“We are starting to see more evidence of an improving labor market,” said Kevin Cummins, an economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, who projected a reading of 55. “So far, it doesn’t seem the consumer has fallen off a cliff.”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-05/ism-services-gauge-in-u-s-fell-to-55-2-in-january-from-55-7.html
Alright 'doom and gloomers'...have at it and tear this report a 'new one'.
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