US Business Growth Eases as Selling-Price Pressures Rise

US private-sector activity expanded more slowly in October, while companies increased selling prices at the fastest pace in more than four years, according to S&P Global's preliminary survey reported by Reuters on 23 October.

The Composite PMI Output Index slipped to 57.6 from September's 58.4. A reading above 50 signals expansion. Strength in manufacturing helped offset a slight slowdown in services, leaving the survey firmly in growth territory.

Demand remained resilient. The new-orders index edged up to 58.2 from 58.1, its highest since March 2022. But supplier delivery times worsened, with that index falling to 38.1 from 40.9.

The output-price gauge rose to 59.8 from 58.4, its highest since August 2022. Input-cost pressures eased, with the corresponding index declining to 64.9 from 65.9, although costs remained elevated.

The flash results point to continued business expansion alongside persistent pricing pressure. These survey indices track the direction of change; their levels are not inflation rates, and the preliminary findings are not a measure of final GDP growth.

Source: Reuters, via 95 KQDS (23 October 2026).

Archival photo: Port City Castings Corporation, Muskegon, Michigan, 2011. USDA / Lance Cheung, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped to 16:9 by Morval Universal. Illustrative archive; not identified as a PMI survey respondent.