US services sector activity rebounds in June, PMIs show

Activity in the US services sector rebounded last month, led by increased production and new orders, the results of a closely followed survey revealed.

The Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index rebounded from a May reading of 50.3 to 53.9 for June.

Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a reading of 51.3.

The sub-index for production leapt from 51.5 to 59.2, while that for new orders increased from 52.9 to 55.5.

Yet price pressures eased a bit further, with the corresponding sub-index slipping from 56.2 to 54.1.

A gauge for hiring meanwhile rose from 49.2 to 53.1.

For the most part, survey respondents' comments on levels of activity appeared to be positive, whilst those regarding inflation were more mixed.

At 50.3, the ISM's May services PMI had only been marginally above the 50 point threshold that denotes an expansion in activity.

Worth noting, a separate services PMI published a quarter of an hour earlier by S&P Global had also revealed a further cooldown in selling prices.

But S&P said that "higher wages in particular are driving costs up, and could keep selling price inflation stubbornly elevated in the months ahead."

-- More to follow --