Wall Street Journal (09/05/13) Kathleen Madigan

The Institute for Supply Management reports a gain in its nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index from 56.0 in July to 58.6 in August, marking the highest reading since the index was rolled out in January 2008 and exceeding the expectations of a decline to 55.0 among forecasters surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Meanwhile, the new orders index edged up from 57.7 to 60.5, and the business activity and production index jumped from 60.4 to 62.2—both reaching their highest levels since February 2011. The employment index also increased, rising from 53.2 in July to 57.0 in August.