“The NMI registered 56.1 percent, which is 3.6 percentage points lower than the February reading of 59.7 percent,” the ISM said in its latest Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business on Wednesday.
Key takeaways from the press release
- The New Orders Index registered 59 percent, 6.2 percentage points lower than the reading of 65.2 percent in February.
- The Employment Index increased 0.7 percentage point in March to 55.9 percent from the February reading of 55.2 percent.
- The Prices Index increased 4.3 percentage points from the February reading of 54.4 percent to 58.7 percent, indicating that prices increased in March for the 22nd consecutive month.
- Respondents remain mostly optimistic about overall business conditions and the economy.
- They still have underlying concerns about employment resources and capacity constraints.