The latest
report by S&P Global showed the seasonally adjusted final S&P Global
U.S. Services Business Activity Index (PMI) came in at 52.5 in January 2024, up
from 51.4 in December 2023 but marginally below the earlier released “flash”
estimate of 52.9. Still, the January reading indicated that the activity in the
U.S. services sector expanded at the fastest pace since June 2023.
Economists had forecast
the indicator to remain unrevised at 52.9.
According
to the report, greater business activity at the start of the year was primarily due to stronger demand conditions and a quicker rise in new orders. On the price
front, the rate of charge inflation slowed to the softest in the current sequence
of increases that began in June 2020, while the pace of cost inflation was
slower
than in December and weaker than the historic trend rate.