The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) measurement of the U.S. economy’s service sector strength shot to a record 63.7 in March from 55.3 in February, the institute reported, and it beat expectations of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Readings above 50 signal expansion.
All 18 categories of services ISM monitors gained in March.
The figure shows the fastest rate of service-sector expansion since the institute began collecting the data in 1997. The reading also beat all estimates from economists surveyed by Bloomberg, according to Business Insider.
The ISM’s index of service-sector prices rose to 74 from 71.8, indicating that the economic recovery, fueled partly by the newest round of government stimulus, likely will push prices up and could ignite inflation.
TRENDPOST: Services accounted for 70 percent of pre-pandemic U.S. economic activity. And while 176,000 jobs bounced back in bars and restaurants and 64,000 in arts, entertainment, and recreation, they are low-paying and seasonal.
While jobs are returning to some extent, new ones are not being created.
Last week, The U.S. Department of Labor reported 744,000 people filed first-time state unemployment claims. Including the additional 152,000 claims filed under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, there were almost 900,000 combined claims between state and federal programs.
Thus, while Forbes reported last week that there is “a new billionaire every 17 hours,” the economic conditions for the “average” and lower class workers in America – and much of the world – continue to decline.
