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 10/3/08 For Sep 2008 | ||||||||||||
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Highlights
In complete contrast with the manufacturing report, ISM's non-manufacturing report shows steady conditions with the headline composite index little changed, down only 4 tenths to a 50.2 reading that is virtually at the dead-even 50 level. In other words conditions were dead flat in both September and August -- good news that may limit conclusions that the economy is in recession. Most sub-indexes hardly moved including prices paid which posted a record plunge in Wednesday's report on the manufacturing side. The discrepancy may reflect manufacturers' greater use of energy. New orders rose slightly to just over 50 though backlog orders did slip more than 2 points to 46.5. Inventories fell in more goods news in the report. There was little reaction in the markets.
The composite index from the ISM non-manufacturing survey strengthened in August into positive territory, rising to 50.6 from 49.5 the prior month. Similarly, the business activity index, equivalent to a production index, rose more than 2 points to 50.6. Price pressures eased somewhat as the prices paid index declined to 72.9 from 80.8 in July.
Composite index Consensus Forecast for September 08: 50.0
Range: 43.8 to 51.9
![[Chart]](chart.gif)
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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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