services activity in the middle of the us stayed positive in november albeit below octobers level while expectations for future activity remained upbeat according to the federal reserve bank of kansas city the tenth district services surveys composite index a weighted average of indexes covering revenuesales employment and inventory came in at 14 for november down from 18 in october but up from 13 in september readings above zero indicate expansion while those below zero indicate contraction the kansas city fed said novembers reading reflects rising wholesale retail and realestate activity partly offset by declines in auto tourism and healthservices activity the bank said indexes for input and selling prices remained high in november but that the pace of growth eased slightly from recent record highs input and selling prices remained above yearago levels for most firms surveyed with prices were expected to increase over the next six months on the hiring front more than 60 of firms surveyed said they expect to increase employment over the next 12 months while 35 expect to leave employment unchanged the bank said nearly 53 of firms said they are at or above their prepandemic employment levels while another 32 said they expect to reach that level by the end of next year the kansas city fed said expectations for future services activity rose to 28 in november from a reading of 22 in october the kansas city feds survey includes participants from such service industries as retail and wholesale trade automobile dealers real estate and restaurants the survey provides information on current services activity in the tenth district which includes colorado oklahoma wyoming nebraska kansas the northern half of new mexico and the western third of missouri the banks monthly manufacturing survey released thursday showed that factory activity in the us central region also slowed in november from the previous month on weakening demand but remained positive