Economic activity in the services sector grew in January, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed Wednesday.
U.S. stocks trimmed their losses after the ISM non-manufacturing index hit 56.7 in January. (Click here for market reaction.)
Economists polled by Reuters expected the index to hit 56.3 in January, versus 56.2 in the prior month.
The ISM employment index, however, slowed to 51.6 in January from 55.7.
Earlier Wednesday, the ADP jobs report said private service providers added 183,000 new jobs in January.
Separately, financial data firm Markit said the final reading of its Purchasing Managers Index for the service sector rose to 54.2 in January, up from both the preliminary read of 54.0, as well as the December read of 53.3, which had matched a 10-month low.
The January figure broke a six-month streak of waning growth, having peaked in June with a reading of 61. A reading above 50 separates expansion from contraction.
The report follows a read on the manufacturing sector that showed growth holding at the slowest rate in a year's time.
The new business subindex fell to 51.7, and while this was moderately stronger than the preliminary read of 51.4, it ranks as the lowest reading in the history of the Markit services sector series, which dates from October 2009. December's level was 52.9.
--Reuters contributed to this story.