Highlights
Boosted by significant improvement in employment, the ISM's non-manufacturing index rose a solid 2.5 points to 53.0 to signal month-on-month growth for the bulk of the U.S. economy. Employment jumped 4 points to 48.6 for the best reading since April 2008. Though still below 50, the level will ease concerns of excessive weakness in Friday's employment report.

February's new orders could be described as robust, at 55.0 to show the strongest rate of month-to-month growth since August 2007. This strength will help boost future activity which already is very strong with the business activity index up more than 2-1/2 points to 54.8. Equities moved higher following today's results.

Market Consensus Before Announcement
The composite index from the ISM non-manufacturing survey in January rose 7 tenths to 50.5, indicating flat conditions for the bulk of the economy. This is consistent with services and construction lagging manufacturing in the recovery. But the non-manufacturing portion of the economy may be strengthening soon. The new orders index rose more than 2-1/2 points in January to 54.7, higher into positive territory and the strongest reading in more than two years.

2010 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/6 2/3 3/3 4/5 5/5 6/3 7/6 8/4 9/3 10/5 11/3 12/3 Released For: Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov