AlHijjah 20, 1433, Nov 5, 2012, SPA -- The pace of growth in the massive U.S. service sector slowed modestly in October as new orders declined, but a measure of employment rose, indicating that service firms hired more, according to a private-sector report Monday. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 54.2 last month from 55.1 in September. Any reading above 50 reflects expansion in the service sector, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction. The forward-looking new-orders measure fell to 54.8 in October from 57.7 the previous month, but the measure of employment gained to 54.9 from 51.1. The ISM report measures growth in a broad range of businesses including retail, construction, healthcare, and financial services. The industries covered employ about 90 percent of the U.S. workforce. The vast services sector has performed better than the manufacturing sector, which contracted during the summer. However, October was the first time since June that the rate of growth in service firms has slowed.
