020 7898 0500There was some rather surprising economic data released in the US yesterday, as non-manufacturing PMI was shown to have come in much stronger than expected. In September it was up to 59.8 from 55.3 in August, against expectations of 55.5. Remarkably, this is the highest figure since August 2005, while new orders also jumped to 63 from 57.1 in August.
Later, there was more good news, as the US job figures showed that US private employers added 135,000 jobs last month. While this is the lowest rise for 11 months, it was still above expectations of an increase of 125,000. Crucially, such a raft of recent positive data really does bolster the calls for the Federal Reserve to increase US interest rates before the year is out.
Today we will see the balance of trade report for August, but the main focus of the week is on tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls. While they are forecast to edge higher by 98,000, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they exceeded that number given what has happened so far this week.
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