Preliminary
data released by S&P Global on Thursday showed that U.S. private sector
business activity expanded in early October at a marginally quicker pace than in the
previous month, reflecting slightly faster growth in the services sector and slower
contraction in manufacturing.
According to
the report, S&P Global flash U.S. Composite Purchasing Manager's Index
(PMI) Output Index came in at 54.3 early this month, slightly up from 54.0 in September.
The latest reading signalled a sustained solid expansion of business activity
at the start of the fourth quarter.
A reading above
50 signals an expansion in activity, while a reading below this level signals a
contraction.
S&P Global
flash services PMI checked in at 55.3 in October, slightly up from 55.2 in September.
The latest reading represents the
rate of expansion, which has been exceeded only once over the past two-and-a-half
years by that recorded in August.
Meanwhile, S&P
Global flash manufacturing PMI improved to 47.8 in October from 47.3 in the
previous month. The latest print pointed to a contraction in business
conditions within the goods-producing sector for a fourth straight month but
with the rate of deterioration moderating to the slowest since August
Economists had expected the manufacturing PMI to rise to 47.5.
S&P Global
noted that new orders for
goods and services rose at the sharpest rate for 17 months, reflecting higher
sales and stronger demand. Meanwhile, employment fell slightly for a third straight
month amid uncertainty ahead of the Presidential Election in the U.S. On the
price front, rates of inflation for input costs and prices charged slowed in
October, with the latter decreasing especially sharply - to the lowest since
May 2020.