The World Today
MADRID, 21 (EUROPA PRESS)
The U.S. Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) accelerated to 55.4 points in August from 55.1 in July, S&P Global reported a preliminary reading Thursday.
The report found that activity grew in August at the fastest pace recorded so far this year, pointing to a "solid" third quarter thanks to improvements in both manufacturing and services.
In addition, jobs were created at one of the highest rates in three years after companies reported the largest increase in backlogs since May 2022.
Business confidence in the future outlook improved but remained much weaker than at the beginning of 2024, as companies worried about the impact of the Trump administration's policies, particularly those related to tariffs.
In this regard, North American firms warned that trade taxes continued to be the main cause of their rising costs. Sales prices rebounded at the fastest rate in more than three years.
"Both industrial and services companies are seeing increased demand but are struggling to meet sales growth, leading to a surge in unfulfilled orders at a pace not seen since […] early 2022," explained Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
"While this improved demand has driven an increase in hiring, it has also strengthened companies' pricing power. Consequently, they have increasingly passed on tariff-related cost increases to customers," he added.
The analyst has indicated that this price dynamic will push inflation above the Federal Reserve's (Fed) 2% target, which, far from creating the conditions for the interest rate cuts Donald Trump is calling for, would actually create a more favorable environment for an increase.
Furthermore, the data collected by the survey are consistent with an annualized GDP increase of 2.5%, up from the 1.3% recorded during the second quarter.
The services PMI then fell to a two-month low of 55.4 in August, down from 55.7 in July, although the manufacturing PMI soared to 53.3 from 49.8. This was its best reading in 39 months.
