U.S. Business Activity Surges at Fastest Pace Since Post-COVID Reopening, S&P Global Data Shows
American business activity experienced a notable acceleration in September, achieving its strongest growth rate in more than five years. According to findings published by S&P Global via its U.S. Flash PMI report released Wednesday, September 23, the private sector expanded at a pace not regularly observed outside of the immediate post-pandemic economic recovery.
The headline S&P Global US PMI Composite Output Index climbed to 58.4 in September, up from its reading of 56.0 in August. S&P Global noted that this increase marks the fourth consecutive month of accelerating growth across the private sector, pushing expansion to its highest level since July 2021. The Purchasing Managers’ Index serves as a closely watched economic gauge tracking private-sector performance, where any reading above 50 signals month-over-month economic expansion.
S&P Global reported that the September growth surge was propelled by robust advances in both the service and manufacturing sectors. Service sector output climbed at its steepest rate in over five years, while manufacturing output expanded at its fastest clip since April 2022. Accompanying this production growth, new order inflows experienced substantial gains. Service sector new orders reached their highest velocity since March 2022, and manufacturing new orders hit their peak pace since April 2022. The underlying data highlighted that domestic demand primarily fueled these new order inflows, as goods export volumes decreased while services exports registered modest gains.
Putting the findings into perspective, Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, observed in the report that the latest expansion represents the most significant improvement in underlying business activity since early 2015, excluding the abnormal demand surge that immediately followed the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns. Williamson emphasized that commercial activity is currently thriving across both industrial manufacturing and service industries.
Additional economic barometrics released in recent weeks point toward shifting sentiment within corporate leadership and small business ownership. The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, covering the third quarter and released on August 6, indicated that executive sentiment rose from 47 to 52, crossing into positive territory. Meanwhile, the National Federation of Independent Business released its Small Business Optimism Index on September 8, showing that the index dipped slightly to 98.7 in August. Despite retreating 1.1 points from July—which recorded the highest level since August 2025—the August reading remained comfortably above the 52-year historical average of 98.0.
Source: PYMNTS
