A report released this morning by the Institute for Supply Management noted that although the US service sector continued to contract through December, the rate of contraction has slowed from the previous month, a hopeful sign. Ryan Smith, senior economist at Moody's Economy.com says the report was "a positive way to end a terrible quarter," and hopes that it shows that "the negative momentum may be easing as we go into 2009." The report showed that recession continued across the board, but that the contraction had eased slightly since November. However, pending home sales fell to their lowest level in 7 years, and the rate of layoffs has continued to accelerate.
See "Service sector eased somewhat in December", Jack Healy, The New York Times, January 5, 2009