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second mortgage loan va
U.S. Services Sector Shows Growth in Dec
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. services industry grew further in December, rounding out a year of expansion in the huge sector, although employment news was less favorable, according to a survey published on Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index rose to 63.1 in December from 61.3 in November, beating out Wall Street's median estimate of 61.0. A number above 50 indicates growth in the sector, which accounts for about 80 percent of the U.S. economy. The index has been above 50 every month since March 2003. The ISM survey's employment index eased slightly to 54.9 in December from 55.0. "The employment component was just a tad lower than what we saw in November so it's still a healthy number," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards and Sons in St. Louis, Missouri. "It indicates that this larger part of the economy is still expanding and we'll probably see continued job growth." However, another measure of U.S. employment released on Wednesday was not quite as healthy, showing planned job cuts rose in December. Employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said employers announced 109,045 layoffs, making December the
second-worst month for layoffs in 2004. The number was up from 104,530 in November. For the year as whole, job cuts decreased from 2003, and Challenger said there was reason to be optimistic in 2005. "Job cuts are likely to continue their decline in 2005 with the economy showing signs of improvement. Jobs are finally being created at a steady rate and many of those jobs are in higher-paying occupations," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Economists are focusing on the state of U.S. employment in anticipation of the release of December non-farm payrolls data on Friday. Along with inflation, the health of the jobs market is seen as one of the key influences on Federal Reserve thinking about where to target official U.S. interest rates. Recent manufacturing indexes have shown a bit of a decline in employment, but Wall Street analysts on average are looking for December payrolls to show an increase of 175,000 from November's relatively small rise of 112,000. Outside of the services and employment sector, a survey released on Wednesday showed applications for U.S. home
mortgages slumped in a holiday-shortened week last week as
loan refinancing and home purchasing declined. The
mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index of
mortgage applications fell 10.6 percent to 605.7 in the week to Dec. 31 after falling 1.7 percent the week before. The MBA said fixed 30-year
mortgage rates averaged 5.67 percent excluding fees, down from 5.72 percent a week earlier.
Source: reuters.com