By Jeffry Bartash
Surveys point to further business contraction
The numbers: The U.S. economy got off to a weak start in 2023. Business conditions contracted again in January as demand for goods and services fell for the fourth month in a row, S&P surveys showed.
The S&P Global “flash” U.S. services sector index rose to a three-month high of 46.6 from 44.7 in December. The service side of the economy employs most Americans.
The S&P Global U.S. manufacturing sector index, meanwhile, edged up to 46.7 from a 31-month low of 46.2 at the end of last year.
Any number below 50 suggests a contracting economy, however.
The S&P surveys are among the first indicators in each month to assess the health of the economy.
Key details: New orders, a sign of future sales, have tailed off since October.
The decline in demand has helped to ease inflation since the fall, S&P found, but the cost of labor and supplies…
