Economic activity in US services sector up for 16th month in row

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Economic activity in the US' services sector grew in September for the 16th month in a row, according to the results of the services business survey released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Tuesday.

The ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), which indicates the overall economic condition of the sector, increased 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to 61.9% in September.

The market expectation was for a 60% reading, while the index had been at 61.7% in August.

The ISM's business activity index was 62.3% last month, an increase of 2.2 percentage points from the August reading of 60.1.

Its services employment index, on the other hand, came at 53% in September, down 0.7 percentage points from 53.7 percent in August.