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Associated PressNEW YORK – The U.S. service sector grew in March at its fastest pace in more than two years, suggesting the economic recovery is expanding from the nation's factories to its shops, restaurants, hospitals and other big sources of jobs.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group, said Monday its service index rose to 55.4 in March from 53 in February.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a reading of 54. Any reading above 50 signals expansion.
It is the strongest pace of growth since ISM revised how it measured the service sector in January 2008.
The service sector is important as it accounts for about 80 percent of U.S. jobs excluding farmworkers. It includes jobs in areas like health care, retail and financial services. The sector is highly dependent on consumer spending, which powers about 70 percent of the economy.
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