How healthy is the U.S. economy—and what do the latest ISM Services numbers really tell us? Lou Weiss and Amy Nicklaus sit down with Steve Miller, Chair of the ISM Services Business Survey Committee, to discuss the July 2026 Services PMI® Report. They cover the latest data on business activity, hiring, employment trends, AI&#x27;s growing role in the workplace, healthcare supply chains, tariffs, oil prices, and why small businesses may be among the biggest beneficiaries of artificial intelligence. The conversation also looks ahead to what businesses should watch for in the coming months and why backlog and employment numbers could be key indicators of future economic growth. If you want practical insight into the economy without the political spin, this episode delivers expert analysis backed by real industry data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What the July 2026 ISM Services Report Says About the Economy, Hiring & AI

Manufacturing Talk Radio

Welcome to Manufacturing Talk Radio, your everything manufacturing podcast with host and veteran manufacturing industry expert, Lewis Weiss and co-host Amy Niklaus. Make sure to check out our catalog of 800 previous shows on YouTube, Spotify or wherever you're listening. Now, let's get into the episode.

Good afternoon everyone. This is Lew Weiss and Amy Niklaus at Manufacturing Talk Radio. We're here again with Steve Miller, the Committee Chair for Services at the Institute for Supply Management. And we are going to have the July 2026 report. Things are looking pretty good. Let's get the rundown from Steve.

Very, very good overall number this month. We're a little bit below expectations. I think when I'm looking at, you know, the commentary before the numbers were released, it was 54.5 was the expectation and our actual number was 54.1. So very close. 0.01, sorry, 0.1 from last month. Real good strength in business activity.

When you see that number, it is the highest number, second highest number we've seen in the last 26 months. And then the new orders number was a good number as well. Not quite as good as the business activity. It was about the fifth highest in the last 26 months. So good numbers there.

You see the employment index though down at 47.4. It was only one month in expansion territory and then dropped back into contraction. And then the supplier deliveries is continuing to moderate. It's still indicating slower deliveries than last month overall for the services sector. But it's a lower number, meaning fewer industries are seeing that slowness increase than last month.

What the July 2026 ISM Services Report Says About the Economy, Hiring & AI

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

What the July 2026 ISM Services Report Says About the Economy, Hiring & AI

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.