Business activity in the U.S. service sector contracted in January this year for the first time in 58 months, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Tuesday.
The Tempe, Arizona-based research group said its index of business activity in the non-manufacturing sector registered 44.6 last month, below 50 for the first time since March 2003.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below indicates contraction.
In January, the new orders index contracted from December's 53.9 to 43.5 percent, the lowest since October 2001. The employment index contracted from December's 51.8 to 43.9, the lowest since February 2002.
The prices index decreased to 70.7 in January from 71.5 in December.
"The overall indication in January is that non-manufacturing has come to the end of a long-term period of growth and has contracted for the month of January," Anthony Nieves, chair of the ISM non-manufacturing business survey committee, while issuing the report.
The service sector -- everything from restaurants and hotels to banks and airlines -- represents about 80 percent of economic activity in the United States.
The ISM report was evidence that the economic growth was slowing down, according to analysts.
Source: Xinhua
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