Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[punkle]

"ISM reflects mostly manufacturing jobs"

Zeev, I respectfully believe you're thinking of the wrong report. The report that came out today specifically deals with the NON-MANUFACTURING sector. ISM also publishes a report that deals specifically with the MANUFACTURING sector.

I agree with you on the "productivity" statement in regards to manufacturing jobs.

But today's ISM SERVICES report showed a decrease in NON-MANUFACTURING jobs from an index of 51 in August to an index of 49.1 in September. This is in sharp contrast to today's Establishment Survey of nonfarm payrolls which showed an increase in non-manufacturing jobs. I just noticed both reports include temp jobs so the disparity is indicative of the volatility of the survey data month over month.

Here's the report:

http://www.ism.ws/ISMReport/NMROB102003.cfm