Service Industry

Every time a client calls, Martin Alamillo gets nervous. Since last summer, more than 10 of his clients have discontinued their weekly gardening service. Several are behind on their payments, including one woman who owes him nearly $1,000. Alamillo and his two crews are still out mowing lawns, blowing leaves and picking weeds, but he estimates that business is down as much as 20%.

Sometimes it doesn't absolutely, positively have to be there overnight. Budget-conscious shippers are deciding their packages and envelopes can take a slower path to their destinations, going by second-day air or, even slower, by truck. Some businesses are just plain sending less. The shift, propelled by the declining economy and record fuel prices, was reflected in FedEx Corp.'s dismal earnings report Wednesday.

Hundreds of service workers at the University of California's 10 campuses and five hospitals began a five-day strike Monday in a dispute over wages. University officials reported "minimal impact" from the walkout by custodians, cooks, healthcare workers and other employees. Campus shuttles were idled at UC Berkeley and cafeteria hours were curtailed at UC Irvine, but patient care was not affected at any of the university's five medical centers, they said.

Educational services, farms, utilities, stores and hospitals all saw their businesses expand in September, thanks to strong exports and deliveries, a private research group's survey showed Friday. The reading of 50.2 from the Institute for Supply Management was down from 50.6 in August, but a reading above 50 signals growth. It beat economists' prediction of a reading of 50.0, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

Take heed, rude Beijingers: Mind your manners, or someone else will. Apparently frustrated by its limited success in persuading Beijing residents to stop spitting, act more courteously and show a friendlier face to strangers in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the Beijing municipal government has opted for a more top-down approach. Starting next month, Beijing shopkeepers who vent their anger, act impatiently, glance at customers disdainfully or act absent-mindedly are in violation of the law.

For M. Evan Parker and Frank Campos, business is pretty lousy these days -- and that's just fine. The Pasadena pair started their in-home lice removal service, Lousey Nitpickers, in July, budgeting $8,000 to launch a website and buy a supply of hair care products, towels and nit combs. Six months later, the company's revenue is still very small.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who forcefully advocated an extension of the city's "living wage" law to cover workers at hotels near Los Angeles International Airport, predicted Friday that the matter would wind up on the May ballot and that voters would endorse the extension. Facing off politely with George Kieffer, a lawyer and lobbyist working with the hotels, Hahn defended the council's decision to apply the living wage to workers at the hotels.

Weakness in the manufacturing sector, especially the auto industry, may be damping the nation's economic prospects, but the bigger service sector appears to be more than making up for it. The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index of business activity in the non-manufacturing sector advanced to 59 in January from 56.7 in December. Wall Street analysts had expected a reading of 57 for last month.

The Los Angeles City Council is expected to give final approval as early as today to a new ordinance imposing a so-called living wage on workers at a dozen hotels near Los Angeles International Airport. It would be the second time in four months that the council has passed such an ordinance. The hotels and business leaders collected signatures for a referendum on the first ordinance.

The nation's service sector expanded at a slower-than-expected rate in February amid a slowdown in new orders that economists think may help cool inflation. The Institute for Supply Management, based in Tempe, Ariz., said Monday that its index of business activity in the service sector was 54.3, down from 59 in January. Wall Street analysts had expected a reading of at least 57 for the latest month. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below that mark signals contraction.