US services sector activity slips in Aoril amid supply chain issues, labour shortages

Activity in America's services sector cooled a tad last month, contrary to market expectations, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed.

The Institute for Supply Management's services sector Purchasing Managers' Index slipped from a reading of 58.3 for March to 57.1 in April.

Economists had penciled-in a small rise to 58.7.

A key sub-index tracking firms' new orders retreated by the most, by 5.5 points to 54.6, alongside a 5.1 point drop for the sub-index linked to order backlogs to 59.4.

In a similar vein, supplier delivery times on the other hand lengthened with the corresponding sub-index up from 63.4 to 65.1.

Purchasing managers from multiple sectors ranging from Accommodation&Food Services through to Retail Trade reported product availability and supply chain logistics issues.

Several also cited a lack of enough workers with the necessary skills as a reason for lower levels of activity.

Hiring also softened with that sub-index down from 54.0 to 49.5.

Subindices for production and imports on the other hand rose.