The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Service Sector Expanded in June

U.S. service-sector activity picked up in June, a sign the economy is slowly picking up steam after a lackluster start to the year.

The Institute for Supply Management’s nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 56.5 in June from 52.9 in May. That was the highest reading since November.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected the index would rise to 53.6. A reading above 50 indicates that activity is expanding while a reading below 50 signals contraction.

“The report looks strong this month,” said Anthony Nieves, who oversees the ISM survey. “Now we see that after the slowing, the cooling off of last month we have a nice uptick across most of the indexes.”

Key components of the index also gained ground. New orders registered at 59.9, up from 54.2 in May. Employment grew to 52.7 from May’s 49.7.

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