Data through: September 2026 · updated Oct 9 · Updates: Monthly · Next: Nov 4
MThe three bars show the last 3 months for this indicator, oldest left to newest right. Bar height reflects each reading relative to the other two — the tallest is the highest of the three, the shortest the lowest.
↓ 0.9% MoM
What this means right now: The ISM Services PMI is between 52 and 55: a clear majority of services purchasing managers report expansion. This site's record of the survey begins in June 2026, so it cannot yet say what has followed readings here.
ISM Services PMI® · Monthly · 2026–2026
NBER recessions
Scroll to read · zoom and pan in Expand
Monthly values
ISM Services PMI® — the last 4 months
Every month's reading, with the band the heatmap gives it. The chart above shows the same series in full.
Month
Value
Band
Sep 2026
54.9
Healthy reading
Aug 2026
55.4
Very strong reading
Jul 2026
54.1
Healthy reading
Jun 2026
54.0
Healthy reading
Month-end readings of the same series the chart shows, from ism_svc. Values are the current record, not point-in-time: a month that has since been revised shows its revised value.
What is the ISM Svc PMI?
The ISM Services PMI surveys purchasing managers at companies in the service sector: healthcare, finance, retail, hospitality, technology, transportation and more. Services make up most of US economic activity, so the survey covers more of the economy than its manufacturing counterpart.
Readings above 50 mean more services companies report expansion than contraction; below 50, contraction dominates. In 2022–2023 industrial production ran below the year before for most of sixteen months while real GDP grew every quarter and unemployment stayed between 3.4% and 4.0%. The services side of the economy carried it. This site's own record of the Services PMI begins in June 2026, so the survey's readings for those years are not held here.
Values on this site are reproduced under an ISM® reprint license, collected forward from the June 2026 report — history here accumulates from that point, with no earlier months and no sub-indices.
How We Color-Code the ISM Svc PMI
Our heatmap colors this indicator against historically significant thresholds:
Below 48.0
Sharp contraction — below 48, a clear majority of services purchasing managers report worse conditions. In this site's record, which begins June 2026: 0 of 4 months
48.0 – 50.0
Contraction — 48 to 50, more services purchasing managers report worse conditions than better. In this site's record, which begins June 2026: 0 of 4 months
50.0 – 52.0
Just above the line — 50 to 52, a modest majority of services purchasing managers report expansion
52.0 – 55.0
Solid expansion — 52 to 55, a clear majority of services purchasing managers report expansion
Above 55.0
Strong expansion — above 55, a large majority of services purchasing managers report expansion
Historical Extremes — What Happened Next?
The ISM Services PMI® is a monthly survey index published by the Institute for Supply Management®, which licenses its use. This site reproduces the headline reading under that licence from the June 2026 report onward. It holds the headline only, June 2026 to the present, with no earlier months and no sub-indices, so there is no history to show here yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Services PMI cover more of the economy than the Manufacturing PMI?
Services make up most of US output and employment, so a swing in the services survey covers far more of the economy than the same swing in manufacturing. This site holds no series for those shares, and its Services PMI record begins in June 2026.
What sectors are included in the ISM Services survey?
The ISM Services survey covers 18 service sectors. They include accommodation and food services, real estate, professional and business services, healthcare, retail, finance, insurance, transportation, information technology and government. That breadth makes it a wide gauge of activity outside manufacturing.
Can the economy be in recession if Services PMI stays above 50?
This site cannot answer from the survey itself, because its Services PMI record begins in June 2026. What it can show is late 2022 to early 2024. Industrial production ran below the year before in 13 of the 16 months from November 2022 to February 2024. Yet real GDP grew in every one of those quarters, by between 1.4% and 4.5% annualised. Unemployment stayed between 3.4% and 3.9%. Whether a services contraction is needed for a recession is not something three months of data can say.
Which sub-index within the Services PMI is most important?
The Business Activity and New Orders components are the most about the months ahead. Employment is read beside the jobs report, and Prices Paid for inflation. This site holds only the headline index, so it does not track the components.