A measure of the prices U.S. businesses charge rose to a four-year high in October as private-sector growth cooled from September, leaving cost pressures elevated even as activity continued to expand.
S&P Global’s flash survey put its output prices index at 59.8, compared with 58.4 in September, the strongest result since August 2022. The readings are index points; 59.8 does not mean U.S. prices rose by 59.8%. The survey’s Composite PMI Output Index registered 57.6 for October, versus 58.4 the month before. It stayed above 50, the mark that separates expansion from contraction, but showed a slower pace of growth.
The sector measures moved in different directions. Services came in at 57.9 after 58.8 a month earlier, while manufacturing edged up to 56.0 from 55.9. New orders strengthened to 58.2, topping September’s 58.1 and reaching their highest level since March 2022.
S&P Global said demand within the United States was firm and export activity resumed growth. Employers added staff as they worked to build capacity. The company linked businesses’ ability to lift prices to rising costs, supply-chain constraints and accumulated orders. Companies may gain room to charge more, while customers could shoulder part of the expense; the survey does not measure any effect on household inflation.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, interpreted the survey as pointing to GDP growth at an annualized rate of roughly 5% early in the fourth quarter. That is a survey-based assessment, not an official GDP estimate. He described the economy as continuing to “boom” at the quarter’s start.
S&P Global said September’s composite score was higher than any reading since July 2021, putting October’s slowdown after a multiyear high. The U.S. October reading of 57.6 also exceeded the eurozone’s flash composite PMI of 51.9, reported by S&P Global and Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB). EconoTimes previously compared U.S. and eurozone PMI readings.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 27-28. S&P Global’s Oct. 15 commentary scheduled the next manufacturing PMI release for Nov. 2, followed by services and composite data on Nov. 4.
