Manufacturing momentum cooling slightly—PMI ticked down to 54.5, below expectations. But dig into the details: new orders accelerated to 55.3, employment firmed up to 52.7. The real story? Prices paid jumped to 77.9 from 71.1. That's not subtle.
Demand is still there. Factories are still hiring. But input costs are climbing fast again. This is the kind of data that keeps central bankers awake—strong enough to justify higher-for-longer, inflationary enough to make them nervous.
Markets love to parse every decimal. But the pattern matters more: resilient activity meeting sticky cost pressures. We've seen this movie before. It doesn't always end with a soft landing.
Demand is still there. Factories are still hiring. But input costs are climbing fast again. This is the kind of data that keeps central bankers awake—strong enough to justify higher-for-longer, inflationary enough to make them nervous.
Markets love to parse every decimal. But the pattern matters more: resilient activity meeting sticky cost pressures. We've seen this movie before. It doesn't always end with a soft landing.
