Here comes Markit services PMI ...

Markit Economics' services purchasing managers' index (PMI) report showed that the sector is still robust.

The index for September was 55.1. Economists had estimated a reading of 55.6, unchanged from August.

The report showed that hiring remained strong, although it is lower year-on-year. Business activity and incoming new work also rose at slower rates.

"The US economic growth slowed in the third quarter according the PMI surveys, down to around 2.2%," wrote Markit chief economist Chris Williamson in the release. "But this largely represents a payback after growth rebounded in the second quarter, suggesting that the economy is settling down to a moderate rate of growth in line with its long term average."

Markit Economics

A key thing to watch in these reports is employment.

The services sector is larger and has held up better than manufacturing, where we several regional surveys showed severe weakness in September. Last month, Markit's PMI showed that job creation fell to a six-month low.

In a note to clients on Friday, Deutsche Bank's David Bianco wrote, "A pivotal September jobs report. We expected a further decline in manufacturing jobs, but we were surprised by the sizable downshift in private jobs growth. We're skeptical of this report, but investors and especially the Fed will heed this data point. Eyes will turn to the non-mfg ISM on Monday for confirmation ..."

More to come ...