Washington (awp/afp) – Activity in services in the United States barely progressed in May, slowing sharply due to weaker demand, and disappointing analysts who saw it climb stronger than in April, according to the survey by the professional federation ISM published on Monday.
The index measuring this activity fell by 1.6 points, to fall to 50.3%.
Activity is therefore progressing very little, even narrowly escaping the contraction, since the index is barely above the 50% mark, below which activity is down compared to the previous month.
Analysts were surprised, who saw activity in services pick up in May, and expected an index up to 52.3%, according to the consensus of Briefing.com.
“There has been a slowdown in the pace of growth in the services sector,” said Anthony Nieves, the president of the survey, quoted in the press release, referring to “sluggish demand”.
And, he says, while business leaders interviewed for this survey mostly report “stable” business conditions at present, the future looks more uncertain, and “there are concerns about the slowing economy “.
Since March 2022, in fact, to slow down inflation, the Fed has raised its key rates. This leads the banks to raise the cost of the loans they offer to households and companies, to slow down consumption and investment, and ultimately to ease the pressure on prices.
But if economic activity slows too much, it risks plunging into recession.
At their next meeting on June 13-14, Fed officials could choose to raise rates for an 11th straight time, or pause to observe the effects of previous hikes.
afp/jh
2023-06-05 15:09:02
#USA #activity #services #stable #ISM
