By Matt Ott
AP Business Writer
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The U.S. services sector, where most Americans work, grew for the seventh consecutive month in December even as coronavirus cases surged through the holidays.
The Institute for Supply Management reported last Thursday that its index of services activity grew slightly to a reading of 57.2 last month, from a reading of 55.9 in November. Readings above 50 represent expansion in services industries such as restaurants and bars, retail stores, and delivery companies.
Respondents to the December ISM survey continued to express anxiety about the ongoing ramifications of COVID-19. Last Wednesday, the U.S. recorded nearly 4,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, the most ever.
Last Thursday's report showed that business activity and new orders both grew more quickly but the index measuring employment fell into contraction. Last Thursday, the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment each week continues to hover close to 800,000.
Out of the 18 service sector categories, 14 reported growth in December, including management and support services, wholesale and retail trade, healthcare, and transportation and warehousing. Industries reporting contraction in December were arts, entertainment and recreation, accommodation and food services, and real estate rental and leasing.
Restaurants and anything to do with entertainment, travel, and leisure have been among the hardest hit as the pandemic grinds on into its tenth month.
The services sector had been growing for 122 consecutive months — more than a decade — before contracting in April and May as the coronavirus outbreak forced many businesses to close and people to stay home.
- Posted January 11, 2021
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Services sector grows for seventh consecutive month
headlines Oakland County
- Meet the Judges
- Phishing and Smishing and Skimming and Shimming: Nessel encourages public to watch out for common scams during NFL Draft
- 56 years later, bias case is closed: Hamtramck completes new housing
- Attorneys to explain new U.S. DOL rules
- Michigan employers, local partners spotlight Gov. Whitmer’s budget recommendations and benefits for Going PRO Talent Fund
headlines National
- New Legalese: You may have heard a deepfake, but what about ‘Twiqbal’?
- From Intake to Outcome: An in-house lawyer’s guide to matter management solutions
- 2 BigLaw firms in merger talks that could produce 1,600-lawyer firm with top 50 revenue
- Send in the paralegals
- Lawyer reprimanded after mistakenly emailing opposing counsel with plan to avoid judge’s call
- ‘I don’t play well’ judge who threatened to track down, jail misbehaving litigant gets tossed from case