Growth slows in U.S. services sector

The U.S. services sector expanded last month at the lowest rate since June, according to an Institute for Supply Management index. The benchmark reached 56.2, down from November’s 59.3 and short of a 58.5 forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. However, despite the slowdown in growth, “the non-manufacturing part of the economy is doing fine,” says Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics.