Highlights of the Markit survey for manufacturers and service providers
- Prior was 58.7
- Manufacturing 59.1 vs 59.1 expected and
- Prior manufacturing 58.4
- Composite 56.5 vs 57.4 exp
- Prior composite 57.6
The report said that new business remained buoyant but demand was slower from earlier in the year. Manufacturers reported higher new orders. Overall business remains very strong with outstanding business at the second-highest on record (since 2009).
The inflation side remains a big concern with record price input numbers for the composite index. Output prices also hit a record.
Despite all that, business confidence rose in part due to supplier delivery delays falling to a six-month low.
IHS Markit chief economist Chris Williamson:
The US economy continues to run hot. Despite a slower rate of expansion of business activity in November, growth remains above the survey's long-run pre-pandemic average as companies continue to focus on boosting capacity to meet rising demand. "However, the slowdown underscores how the economy is struggling to cope with ongoing supply constraints. Although supplier delivery delays eased to the lowest for six months, the lengthening of lead times remains far greater than anything seen prior to the pandemic, restricting output relative to demand and once again causing prices to rise sharply. "Input cost inflation spiked sharply higher in November to reach a new survey high, adding to pressure for firms to pass the recent surge in costs on to customers in order to protect margins. Although some resistance to higher prices was seen in the survey responses, serving to dampen demand growth to the slowest for nearly a year, average prices charged for goods and services continued to rise at an unprecedented rate."