April Services PMI contracts following 15 months of growth, reports ISM

A 15-month stretch of growth in the services economy came to an end in April, according to the new edition of the Services ISM Report on Business, which was issued late last week by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

The Services PMI, at 49.4 (a reading of 50 or higher signals growth) fell 2.0%. The last time the index contracted was in December 2022, when it came in at 49 and prior to that the last month seeing contraction was in May 2020, when it came in at 45.4.

The April Services PMI reading is 2.8% below the 12-month average of 52.2, with August 2023’s 54.1 marking the high for that period and last month’s 49.4 reading marking the low for that period.

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