U.S. Services Index Comes In Unchanged In January

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday showed its reading on U.S. service sector activity came in unchanged in the month of January.

The ISM said its services PMI came in at 53.8 in January, unchanged from a revised reading in December. A reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector.

Economists had expected the services PMI to edge down to 53.5 from the 54.4 originally reported for the previous month.

"December 2024 and January 2025 featured similar subindex performance, but in the last two months, the PMI is stronger year over year by an average of 0.7 percentage point," said Steve Miller, Chair of the ISM Services Business Survey Committee.

The report said the business activity index climbed to 57.4 in January from 55.2 in December, while the new orders index slid to 53.1 in January from 56.5 in December.

The employment index also dipped to 50.3 in January from 51.7 in December, although the reading above 50 still indicates the second straight month of job growth.

With regard to inflation, the ISM said the prices index rose to 66.6 in January from 65.1 in December, remaining above 60 for the fourteenth straight month.

The ISM released a separate report on Monday showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded for the first time in 12 months in January.

The report said the manufacturing PMI jumped to 52.6 in January from 47.9 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 48.5.