Updated: 05-Oct-26 10:16 ET

September ISM Non-Manufacturing Index

Updated: 05-Oct-26 10:16 ET

Highlights

• The ISM Services PMI decreased to 54.9% in September (Briefing.com consensus: 55.7%) from 55.4% in August.
• The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%, so the September reading reflects services sector activity growing at a slightly slower pace than the prior month.

Key Factors

• The Business Activity/Production Index dropped to 56.5% from 61.7%.
• The New Orders Index slipped to 59.8% from 60.9%.
• The Employment Index increased to 50.1% from 47.8%.
• The Prices Index jumped to 74.0% from 72.6%, marking the twenty-second consecutive month above 60.0% and the highest reading since July 2022.
• The Supplier Deliveries Index rose to 53.2% from 51.3%.
• The Backlog of Orders Index increased to 56.6% from 55.6%.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is the understanding that the prices paid by services organizations continue to increase. In turn, that will continue to feed concerns about pass-through effects for consumers.

Category	SEP	AUG	JUL	JUN	MAY
Non-Manufacturing ISM index	54.9	55.4	54.1	54.0	54.5
Business Activity	56.5	61.7	59.1	55.4	57.7
New Orders	59.8	60.9	57.2	55.1	57.3
Employment	50.1	47.8	47.4	51.2	47.9
Deliveries (nsa)	53.2	51.3	52.8	54.4	55.2
Inventories (nsa)	57.8	56.7	51.4	51.2	62.5
Exports (nsa)	46.9	56.3	52.0	50.4	50.0
Imports (nsa)	52.9	56.3	51.8	49.4	51.1
Prices Paid	74.0	72.6	70.3	67.7	71.3