WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service companies grew in June at the slowest pace in nearly two and a half years, a troubling sign for the economy.

But those same firms boosted hiring last month, adding to other data that show job growth may have picked up.

The Institute for Supply Management said Thursday that its index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 52.1 last month from a May reading of 53.7.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.