Mubasher: The US services sector saw its growth accelerating during October, led by a recovery in output and new work inflows, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing purchasing managers index (NMI), a gauge of service-oriented firms such as banks, restaurants and hospitals, climbed to 54.7% last October from 52.6% in September.

The ISM’s services sector barometer of business activity plunged by 1.8% to 57% last month.

Another sub-index of new orders came in at 55.6% during October, recovering from the previous month’s reading of 55.6%, even with the growth of the new export orders stalling.

Backlog of orders placed with services providers dropped by 5.5% month-on-month to 48.5%.

Hiring rate in the US services sector picked up steam last month, with the employment gauge rising to 53.7% from 50.4%.

Services imports extended its decline from the preceding month, with the respective gauge edging down to 48.5 from 49%.

By 3:02 pm GMT, the US dollar index fell by 0.39% to 97.8870.