The US services sector put on the brakes last month. Or sped up. It depends on which survey you consult.

In a development that reflected slower demand, but also improving supplier performance, ISM’s gauge of US services sector activity printed 51.2 for March, close to the demarcation line separating expansion from contraction, and well below expectations.

Consensus was 54.4, and the range of estimates was 50-56, from nearly five-dozen economists who ventured a guess. Outside of December’s anomalous dip into contraction territory, March’s headline print was the lowest since spring of 2020.

The final read on S&P Global’s services gauge, also released on Wednesday, was 52.6 for March, down from the flash print, but up from February, and the highest since last June.

As a quick reminder: Most market participants gave up on trying to reconcile these reports a long time ago. It’s not even clear there’s anything to reconcile. Typically, the financial media treats them separately.

“There has been a pullback in the rate of growth for the services sector, attributed mainly to a cooling off in the new orders growth rate, an employment environment that varies by industry and continued improvements in capacity and logistics,” ISM’s Anthony Nieves said.

The drop in the ISM new orders index was very large. At 52.2, it was down more than 10 points from February. New export orders plunged 18 points from 61.7 all the way into deep contraction territory at 43.7. Notably, the prices gauge cooled again. At 59.5, it’s still too hot for comfort, but we’re nearing something that at least vaguely resembles normality. March’s print was the lowest since July of 2020.

The employment gauge fell to 51.3, on the brink of contraction, and down from 54 in February. Earlier Wednesday, ADP figures showed leisure and hospitality added nearly 100,000 positions in March, shouldering most of the job creation burden.

The updated read on services sector activity came as evidence continues to mount that the goods-producing side of the economy is decelerating fairly rapidly. A moderation in services activity (and hiring) is seen as a prerequisite for a return to price stability. In that sense, Wednesday’s ISM report was welcome news, even as the drop in new orders was perhaps too fast for comfort.

I should note that respondents were still generally upbeat, and one panelist said that, “Interest rate hikes seem to have done little to slow down consumer spending.” By contrast, another cited “reduced expenditure[s]” tied to a waning overall growth impulse.

In the S&P Global survey, new orders actually firmed. Again: It’s a tale of two surveys. “Greater service sector demand and increased pressure on capacity spurred another round of job creation, with the rate of employment growth quickening slightly to a six-month high,” S&P Global’s Sian Jones said Wednesday, adding that “selling price inflation accelerated again due to more accommodative demand conditions.”

Ultimately, markets will focus on the ISM report, and in that respect, bad news might’ve been good news. But who knows anymore.