The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported on Wednesday that its non-manufacturing index (NMI) came in at 56.6 in October, which was 1.2 percentage points lower than the September reading of 57.8 percent. The reading represented growth in the services sector for the fifth straight month but the slowest since May.

Economists forecast the index to decrease to 57.5 last month. A reading above 50 signals expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

According to the report, the ISM’s non-manufacturing Business Activity measure fell 1.8 percentage points to 61.2 percent from September’s figure, the New Orders gauge declined 2.7 percentage points to 58.8 percent from September’s reading and the Employment Index decreased 1.7 percentage points to 50.1 percent from the September reading. Meanwhile, the Prices Index climbed 4.9 percentage points to 63.9 from September’s reading, the Supplier Deliveries Index rose 1.3 percentage points to 56.2 percent from September’s.