Growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed by much more than expected in the month of March, the Institute for Supply Management revealed in a report released on Wednesday.
The ISM said its services PMI slid to 51.2 in March from 55.1 in February. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector, economists had expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to 54.5.
The bigger than expected decrease by the headline index was partly due to a significant slowdown in the pace of new orders growth, with the new orders index tumbling to 52.2 in March from 62.6 in February.
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