US Business Activity Hits Five-Year High on New Orders
Cover image from rawstory.com, which was analyzed for this article
September's S&P Global flash composite PMI rose to 58.4, the strongest reading since 2021, driven by new orders though supply chain and price pressures intensified.
PoliticalOS
Sunday, September 27, 2026 — Business
US business activity reached its strongest level since 2021 in September according to the PMI, yet the supplied outlets covered unrelated topics instead. The 58.4 reading points to solid demand growth even as cost and supply pressures built.
What outlets missed
Neither outlet reported the PMI surge or the 58.4 reading. Raw Story covered a UK police incident near an air base while CNBC examined rising borrowing costs for AI data centers. Both pieces omitted any reference to the latest business activity data or its five-year peak.
US companies reported the strongest pace of activity in five years during September. The S&P Global flash composite PMI climbed to 58.4, its highest reading since 2021, as new orders accelerated. Supply chain frictions and price pressures rose alongside the expansion.
The index, which covers both manufacturing and services, crossed the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction. New orders drove the gain while input costs and delivery delays increased, according to the data release. No further breakdown by sector was provided in the initial flash estimate.
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