The non-manufacturing ISM surveys nearly 400 firms from 60 sectors across the United States, including agriculture, mining, construction, transportation, communications, wholesale trade and retail trade. Beginning with the January 2008 report, a new composite index was made public and is now the headline number. It is considered an indicator of the overall economic conditions for the non-manufacturing sector and consists of four equally weighted indexes: business activity, new orders, employment, and supplier deliveries. Why Investors Care
| Released on 3/5/08 For Feb 2008 | ||||||||||||
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Highlights
The ISM's non-manufacturing report offers mostly good news for February, showing slowing rates of decline in most categories which of course plunged in the January report. The new composite headline index jumped nearly 5 points to 49.3 with the business activity index, equivalent to a production index, actually edging over 50 to 50.8 vs. January's 41.9. New orders may be the report's most important index, showing a near breakeven 49.5, well up from 43.5. Backlogs likewise improved, to 49.5 for a 3.5 point gain. Employment also improved, to 46.9 vs. 43.9 in a result that may boost expectations at least slightly for Friday's employment report. Costs remain elevated with prices paid down a slight 3 points to 67.9.
This report is a positive suggesting that the overall economy has bounced just a bit from what proved to be a very soft January. Treasury yields rose in reaction to the report which may give the dollar and stocks a lift through the session.
The business activity index from the ISM non-manufacturing survey plunged to 41.9 in January from 54.4 in December. This is the most extreme move on record and the lowest reading since the 2001 recession. New orders also dropped to 43.5 from 53.9 -- again the lowest reading since the recession. The non-manufacturing index suggests that it is not just housing and manufacturing that may be heading into recession.
Business activity index Consensus Forecast for February 08: 47.5
Range: 43.0 to 52.2
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Beginning with the January 2008 report, a new composite index was made public and is now the headline number. It is considered an indicator of the overall economic conditions for the non-manufacturing sector and consists of four equally weighted indexes: business activity, new orders, employment, and supplier deliveries. |
| 2008 Release Schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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