U.S. Business Activity Growth Slows to 10-Month Low in February

U.S. business activity expanded at its slowest pace in ten months in February due to a decline in factory orders, a slowdown in new business growth in the services sector, and stagnant employment growth. According to Jin10, the preliminary S&P Global Composite PMI for February fell to 52.3 from January's 53.0, marking the lowest level since April. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the private sector. Both the services and manufacturing PMI preliminary readings saw slight declines this month. S&P Global Market Intelligence's Chief Business Economist, Williamson, noted that the PMI data so far this year suggests an annualized GDP growth rate of only 1.5%, indicating a significant slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter compared to the strong growth seen in the latter half of last year.