
TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Business activity in U.S. service industries grew in December for the 25th consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management said Thursday.
The pace of growth picked up slightly with the headline Purchasing Managers Index was 52.6, up from 52 in November.
The index uses 50 as a break-even point. Above 50 indicates growth. Below 50 indicates a contraction.
The critical new-orders index for non-manufacturing businesses rose from 53 to 53.2. The employment index rose from 48.9 to 49.4, meaning the pace of job erosion slowed.
The prices index fell from 62.5 to 61.2.
In the month, 11 of 18 service industries tracked in the report showed growth, led by retail trade, professional, scientific and technical services, mining, and transportation and warehousing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Business News Stories | |
ERBIL, Iraq, June 19 (UPI) --
Iraq's Kurds have consolidated their growing energy sector with Chevron Corp. securing a third exploration block in the semiautonomous northern region that increasingly operates as a de facto independent state and France's Total buying a majority stake in another.
|
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 19 (UPI) --
Britain's BAE Systems, Europe's biggest defense company, reportedly expects to wrap up a price deal with Saudi Arabia for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets after two years of tortuous negotiations.
|
Properties repossessed by lenders in the first quarter took an average of 477 days to complete the foreclosure process, up from 414 days in the previous...
|
Nobody likes spending cuts but the champion of that attitude is clearly President Barack Obama, who seems to have a very clear pain-avoidance agenda.
|
| Stories | Photos | Comments |
View Caption