US Business Activity Accelerates in May: S&P Global

The S&P Global US Composite PMI rose to 58.4 in September 2026 from 56 in August, matching the flash estimate and marking the strongest expansion in private-sector business activity in more than five years. Growth accelerated across both manufacturing and services, pointing to broad-based strength in the US economy. The increase in output was supported by a rapid rise in new orders, indicating that demand remained robust during the month. Stronger workloads also encouraged businesses to expand their workforces, with employment increasing at the fastest pace since June 2022. However, the stronger economic performance was accompanied by a renewed build-up in cost pressures. Input prices rose at their sharpest rate since October 2022, adding to concerns about inflationary pressures across the private sector. Companies responded by raising their selling prices at a faster pace in September, suggesting that higher input costs were increasingly being passed on to customers.

The S&P Global US Flash Composite PMI rose to 58.4 in September 2026 from 56 in August, pointing to the strongest expansion in private-sector activity since July 2021 and marking a fourth consecutive month of accelerating growth. The gains were driven by the service sector (58.7 vs 56.5), which reported the steepest rise in output for over five years, while manufacturing also accelerated (56.7 vs 53.1). New order inflows gathered pace, buoyed principally by the domestic market. Companies’ backlogs of uncompleted orders rose at the sharpest rate since May 2022, which encouraged firms to take on more staff and at a rate not seen since June 2022. However, price pressures intensified, with input costs rising the most since October 2022 mainly due to higher fuel and transport costs though wage pressures were also noted to have picked up in many cases. Selling price inflation also went up while business output expectations for the year ahead were unchanged.

The S&P Global US Composite PMI came in at 56 in August 2026, unrevised from the preliminary estimate and above July's reading of 54.5. The data showed that private-sector growth accelerated for the third month in a row, reaching its highest level in 52 months. Services activity strengthened significantly, while manufacturing continued to expand, albeit at a slower pace. Six of the seven US sectors expanded in August, led by Financials, Consumer Services and Technology. New orders increased at their fastest rate in 20 months. Employment growth also accelerated, reaching a 19-month high. Meanwhile, price pressures eased. Input-cost inflation fell to its lowest level since April 2025, while selling-price inflation slowed to a nine-month low. Business confidence, however, remained broadly unchanged from July.