US PMIS: ANALYZING APRIL S&P GLOBAL COMPOSITE RELEASE

S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) measures private sector business activity in major economies on a monthly basis and in advance of comparable official economic data. On Friday, April 21, the company will unveil the April preliminary estimates of manufacturing PMI and services PMI for the United States (US).

Global businesses are still trying to recover from the pandemic-related setback that saw the world come to a halt three years ago. It has been a bumpy road, with back and forths in the middle, but central bank decisions to tighten their monetary policies took its toll on businesses, with activity contracting for most of 2022.

In March, however, business activity in the United States unexpectedly rebounded, as demand surged, especially in the services industry. The S&P Global preliminary US Composite PMI jumped to 53.3 in March, up from 50.1 in February. The Services PMI Index rose to 53.8 from 50.6, while the Manufacturing PMI climbed to 49.3 from 47.3.

Despite the encouraging resurgence in business activity last month, Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, warned that inflation remains a nagging issue, adding that “the purchasing managers surveyed indicated that selling prices were increasing at a quicker rate despite lower costs in the manufacturing sector and that the services sector is also raising prices, mainly as a result of faster wage growth.”