US services sector sees fastest growth in new orders this year

The number of new orders in the US services sector rose at the fastest pace in a year in June, according to a report published on Wednesday by the US financial services company S&P Global.

“The U.S. services sector saw an improvement in growth in June, with companies reporting stronger growth in both business activity and new orders,” the report reads.

Companies responded to the surge in new business by adding workers for the first time in three months, but a backlog of work still piled up.

“Both input cost and output price growth rates fell in June but in each case remained above pre-pandemic averages,” it added. “Higher labor costs were key to the price increases.”

The S&P Global US Services PMI business activity index rose for the second month in a row to 55.3 in June, after reading 54.8 in May.

Activity in the U.S. services sector has increased in each of the last 17 months, the report found.