US February ISM services PMI 55.1 vs 54.5 expected

• Services PMI index 55.1 versus 54.5 estimate. Prior month 55.2
• employment index 54.0 versus 49.8 expected. Prior 50.0
• new orders index 62.6 versus 58.5 expected. Prior 60.4
• prices paid index 65.6 versus 64.5 expected. Prior 67.8
• new export orders 61.7 versus 59.0 last month
• imports 52.6 versus 53.0 last month
• backlog of orders 52.8 versus 52.9 last month
• inventories 50.6 versus 49.2 last month
• supplier deliveries 47.6 versus 50.0 last month
• inventory sentiment 55.3 versus 55.8 last month
• Full report

The strong jump in new orders stands out. Prices cooled, but not much and perhaps not enough.Without knowing any of the context, you would look at this report and see a strong economy that's picking up. The US dollar is stronger on the report, understandably.

Comments in the report:

• “Sales activity is generally strong, despite economic headwinds.” [Accommodation & Food Services]
• “Activity is steady. Costs continue to escalate, eliminating any profit we had hoped for in the first and second quarters.” [Construction]
• “There is some slight improvement in availability and delivery turns.” [Educational Services]
• “Upward pricing pressures have eased slightly but are still elevated.” [Finance & Insurance]
• “Inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term, though somewhat eased from the peaks of the past six months, continues to drive higher-pricing demands from suppliers. Hospital volumes are improving but have not returned to pre-pandemic levels in all cases.” [Health Care & Social Assistance]
• “The current dynamics in the marketplace are such that it is getting harder to reduce costs. Most industries are being pinched by inflation and more expensive labor markets. Before, cost reduction was the goal; it’s now cost avoidance. That said, since we’re not able to reduce cost to maintain margins, we have to reduce the employee base more aggressively to achieve margins.” [Information]
• “Seeing a slow decline in activity, but not a collapse like in 2009.” [Management of Companies & Support Services]
• “Generally flat activity level.” [Mining]
• “Starting the new business cycle with a noticeable uptick in demand.” [Professional, Scientific & Technical Services]
• “Continual effort to right-size inventory to match lower sales forecasts for the coming year.” [Retail Trade]
• “The electric utility industry has seen some improvement on lead times and availability in some categories, but there are still issues with conductors, connectors, rubber-molded items and transformers.” [Utilities]
• “Business activity has improved slightly compared to last month. Supplier deliveries are faster, and fill rates from manufacturers seem to be stabilizing. Customers now are very cost conscious and looking for lower-priced product options Options Options represent a contract that enables investors to buy or sell underlying instruments such as security, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or indices at a certain price over a certain period of time. Buying and selling options can be done on the options market, which trades contracts based on securities. When trading options, the price of the option is thus a percentage of the underlying asset or security.Investors who purchase an option are able to buy shares at a later time and are known as a ca Options represent a contract that enables investors to buy or sell underlying instruments such as security, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or indices at a certain price over a certain period of time. Buying and selling options can be done on the options market, which trades contracts based on securities. When trading options, the price of the option is thus a percentage of the underlying asset or security.Investors who purchase an option are able to buy shares at a later time and are known as a ca Read this Term.” [Wholesale Trade]