US services expand at a record pace in October, ISM says
Activity in America's services sector expanded at a record pace last month even as businesses ran into capacity constraints at an increased pace, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed.
The Institute for Supply Management's services sector Purchasing Managers' index jumped from a reading of 61.9 for September to 66.7 in October (consensus: 61.8).
Sub-indices for business activity and new orders both registered steep gains, but so did another tracking supply deliveries, which rose from 68.8 to 75.7, reflecting the worsening supply situation.
Another sub-index, tied to the prices paid by firms, also continued pushing higher, rising from 77.5 to 82.9.
According to one purchasing manager in the Educational Services space, their company was having to forecast six months out for basic supplies, while another in the Information sector quipped that the freight crisis was now "critical".
The latter reported that everything from capacity, to transit times because of port delays and costs were now running at three times their pre-pandemic level, so that "fourth-quarter holiday peak sales are at risk for delayed supply".