The activity in the United States' service sector decreased slightly in February, with the Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) going from January's 53.5% to 50.8% while remaining in the expansion territory, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in its report published on Thursday.
The New Orders Index declined by 1.8 percentage points compared to the previous month to 50.4%. On the other hand, the Inventory Sentiment Index rose by 1.9 percentage points to 56.6%, and the Business Activity Index by 1.5 percentage points to 55.9%. Meanwhile, the Employment Index went into contraction, dropping by 7.7 percentage points to 46.2%.
"There has been a significant increase this month in the number of respondents reporting cost increases due to tariff activity. Despite an increase in comments on tariff impacts and continuing concerns over potential tariffs and declining governmental spending, there was a close balance in near-term sentiment," ISM Services Business Survey Committee Chair Steve Miller said.
