U.S. M&A deal activity decreased in May, going down 7.9% with 969 announcements compared to 1,052 in April. However, aggregate M&A spending increased. In May, 40.3% more was spent on deals compared to April.

• In terms of M&A deal activity, 5 of the 21 sectors tracked by FactSet saw an increase in M&A deal activity over the past three months relative to the same three-month period one year ago: Technology Services (764 vs. 636), Transportation (78 vs. 66), Electronic Technology (73 vs. 69), Miscellaneous (16 vs. 14), and Process Industries (70 vs. 68).
• On the other hand, 15 of the 21 sectors tracked by FactSet saw a decrease in M&A deal activity over the past three months relative to the same three-month period one year ago. The five sectors that witnessed the largest declines in M&A deal volume were: Finance (541 vs. 669), Consumer Services (138 vs. 231), Commercial Services (331 vs. 402), Distribution Services (117 vs. 176) and Health Services (82 vs. 112).