Skip to footer

Non-manufacturing business activity down in March

The business activity index declined 5.91% since February but remained 0.51% above the level seen a year earlier.

|
SoldAtTheTop
This chart shows the ISM non-manufacturing business activity index since 2005. Activity showed a slight decline in March.

Today, the Institute for Supply Management released their latest Non-Manufacturing Report on Business indicating that service related business activity declined notably in March with the business activity component dropping while the overall non-manufacturing index declined to 56.0 from 57.3 in February.

At 58.9 the business activity index declined 5.91% since February but remained 0.51% above the level seen a year earlier.

This month, service industry respondents are sounding very positive and optimistic for economic activity in 2012:

"2012 continues ahead of forecasted pace through March." (Wholesale Trade)

"February was a great month for auto sales — much better than expected. Forecasted sales volumes for the year are being revised upward." (Retail Trade)

"Positive year-over-year growth is finally being seen as customers' discretionary spend is up, and overall traffic is increasing as well. Increased investments in marketing promotions and advertising during the past few months have helped improve customer loyalty, evidenced by longer stays and increased frequency of visits." (Arts, Entertainment & Recreation)

"Companies are seeking professional services to continue efficiencies while positioning for growth, when the top line comes back." (Professional, Scientific & Technical Services)

"We are starting to see the private sector building again; the money is starting to flow into construction." (Construction)

"Increasing demand for healthcare services while engaging in a more intense effort to reduce costs universally. [We are doing this] prior to implementation of healthcare reform, which is expected to dramatically reduce revenue by approximately 25 percent." (Health Care & Social Assistance)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Non-manufacturing business activity down in March
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2012/0404/Non-manufacturing-business-activity-down-in-March
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe