U.S. PMI falls below 50 for 2 consecutive months in August

S&P Global announced that the initial value of the U.S. Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in August unexpectedly fell sharply to 45, a contraction level below 50 for two consecutive months, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points from the previous month, and the market originally expected 49. During the period, the initial value of the manufacturing PMI fell to 51.3, the lowest level in nearly two years. The market expected and the previous month were 52 and 52.2 respectively. As for the service industry PMI, it fell sharply to 44.1, the market expectation and the previous value were 49.2 and 47.3 respectively, reflecting the negative impact of high interest rates and high inflation on business activities, or much larger than market expectations. Unexpectedly weak U.S. PMI data dragged the dollar into a correction.