U.S. ISM Non-Manufacturing Index Unexpectedly Rose (Update2)
By Courtney Schlisserman
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Service industries in the U.S. contracted less than forecast in March, easing concern the economy was deteriorating quickly.
The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index, which captures almost 90 percent of the economy, rose to 49.6 from 49.3 in February. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between growth and contraction.
Combined with the group's manufacturing index, which earlier this week showed a smaller contraction than anticipated, the report indicates growth is unlikely to collapse. The figures are welcome news for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who yesterday said there was a risk the economy would shrink in the first half of the year.
``The economy is weak, but not gaining momentum to the downside,'' said Alan Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price Group Inc. in Baltimore, in an interview with Bloomberg Radio. The weakness ``is mostly closely related to the housing sector.''
Economists forecast the index would fall to 48.5, according to the median of 69 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 46 to 52.5. The measure reached a record- low of 44.6 in January.
The last time the index was less than 50 for at least 3 consecutive months was in 2001-2002 as the economy was emerging from a recession.
Claims Rise
Stocks trimmed losses following the report and gains among Treasury securities were reduced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.3 percent at 1,363.1 at 12:21 a.m. in New York. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 3.57 percent from 3.60 percent late yesterday.
A report from the Labor Department today showed the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased to 407,000 last week, the most since just after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. The total number of unemployed workers receiving benefits surged to the highest level since 2004.
The purchasers group's employment gauge was unchanged at 46.9 for a second month in March. The index for non- manufacturing businesses activity rose to 52.2 from 50.8 the prior month.
The group's measure of new orders increased to 50.2 from 49.6 in February. The supplier deliveries' index fell to 49 from 50.
Prices Rise
The Institute's measure of prices paid by non-manufacturing companies climbed to 70.8, from 67.9 in February. The group's inventories measure rose to 51 from 50.
Manufacturing in the U.S. contracted less than forecast in March, as gains in exports helped offset declines in orders, the purchasers' group said earlier this week. Its factory index increased to 48.6 from 48.3 in February.
A report from Labor tomorrow is projected to show the U.S. lost jobs for a third straight month in March and the unemployment rate rose to 5 percent from 4.8 percent.
A cooling job market, tight credit conditions and the deepening slump in housing have shaken consumer confidence and hurt spending. Retail sales fell 0.6 percent in February, according to figures from the Commerce Department.
The slowdown continued in March. The International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC on April 1 lowered March chain-store sales estimates for a second time in as many weeks as purchases of clothing waned.
Demand Wanes
Sales at stores open at least a year will probably fall or be little changed for the month, the group said, after rising just 0.5 percent last week from a year earlier. The increase was the smallest since April 2003.
Automakers sold cars and light trucks at an average 15.2 million annual pace from January through March, the weakest three months in almost a decade.
``I'd like to be able to tell you the worst is behind us, but I can't really say that,'' Ford Motor Co. marketing chief Jim Farley said on a conference call this week. ``Our sense is the second quarter may be the worst sales period of the year.''
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News last month forecast consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, grew at a 0.5 percent pace last quarter, the smallest gain in 16 years.
Bernanke yesterday acknowledged for the first time that a recession is possible because homebuilding, employment and consumer spending will deteriorate.
``It now appears likely that real gross domestic product will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly,'' Bernanke told Congress's Joint Economic Committee.
Slower Spending
Slowdowns in spending and business investment indicate the economy grew at a 0.1 percent pace in the first three months of the year, following a 0.6 percent rate of expansion in the fourth quarter, according to last month's Bloomberg survey.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the arbiter of when recessions begin and end. It defines a contraction as a ``significant'' decrease in activity over a sustained period of time. The declines would be visible in gross domestic product, payrolls, production, sales and incomes.
Economists at Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Securities LLC are among those saying the economy is already in a recession.
The services measure reported today was introduced in February as a composite of changes in gauges for business activity, new orders, employment and supplier deliveries that go back to 1997. The ISM gives each sub-index equal weight in computing the new measure and Bloomberg used this calculation to create historical readings.
To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Schlisserman in Washington
cschlisserma@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 3, 2008 10:34 EDT