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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ISM-Se...-14842532.html
That last line says it all
A private trade group's measure of the strength of the services sector shrank for the sixth straight month in March and at a faster pace than expected.
A services index from the Institute for Supply Management, a Tempe, Ariz.-based trade group of purchasing executives, fell to 40.8 last month from 41.6 in February. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index to edge up to 42.
Any reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The report is based on a survey of the institute's members in 18 industries. It covers such indicators as new orders, employment, inventories, prices and backlogs.
About three-quarters of Americans work in service-providing industries such as hotels, retail, education and health care.
