US Advanced Manufacturing Data Show a Slowdown in February

Momentum in both the U.S. manufacturing and service sectors slowed in February, according to data released Tuesday.

The Markit flash U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to a seasonally adjusted reading of 54.3 from 55 in January.

A similar gauge for services slipped to 53.9 from a 14-month high of 55.6 in the prior month.

Both indices slipped to two-month lows.



Any reading below 50 indicates more respondents said conditions are getting worse than getting better.

“The drop in the flash PMI numbers for February suggest that the post-election upturn has lost some momentum,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

Williamson said that there was a sharp pull-back in business optimism in the outlook over the next 12 months, which suggests companies have become more cautious.

Still, the readings are broadly in level with the economy growing at a 2.5% annualized rate in the first quarter.

via MarketWatch

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza