by Calculated Risk on 8/03/2023 10:00:00 AM

(Posted with permission). The ISM® Services index was at 52.7%, down from 53.9% last month. The employment index decreased to 50.7%, from 53.1%. Note: Above 50 indicates expansion, below 50 in contraction.

From the Institute for Supply Management: Services PMI® at 52.7% July 2023 Services ISM® Report On Business®

Economic activity in the services sector expanded in July for the seventh consecutive month as the Services PMI® registered 52.7 percent, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in the latest Services ISM® Report On Business®. The sector has grown in 37 of the last 38 months, with the lone contraction in December of last year.

The report was issued today by Anthony Nieves, CPSM, C.P.M., A.P.P., CFPM, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Services Business Survey Committee: “In July, the Services PMI® registered 52.7 percent, 1.2 percentage points lower than June’s reading of 53.9 percent. The composite index indicated growth in July for the seventh consecutive month after a reading of 49.2 percent in December, which was the first contraction since June 2020 (45.4 percent). The Business Activity Index registered 57.1 percent, a 2.1-percentage point decrease compared to the reading of 59.2 percent in June. The New Orders Index expanded in July for the seventh consecutive month after contracting in December for the first time since May 2020; the figure of 55 percent is 0.5 percentage point lower than the June reading of 55.5 percent.

“The Supplier Deliveries Index registered 48.1 percent, 0.5 percentage point higher than the 47.6 percent recorded in June. In the last six months, the average reading of 47.6 percent (with a low of 45.8 percent in March) reflects the fastest supplier delivery performance since June 2009, when the index registered 46 percent. (Supplier Deliveries is the only ISM® Report On Business® index that is inversed; a reading of above 50 percent indicates slower deliveries, which is typical as the economy improves and customer demand increases.)
emphasis added

The PMI was below expectations.