S&P Global United States Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)

Markit Composite PMI is a monthly summary report concerning the changes in the working conditions of private companies in the manufacturing and service sectors. The indicator is based on monthly surveys of purchasing managers working in approximately 1000 private companies of the US manufacturing sector.

Often purchasing managers can track changes in market conditions prior to other company employees, because purchases precede company's production activities. Purchasing managers are among the first to notice such changes. The sample for the survey are chosen so as to cover the maximum possible number of large companies across the country.

Unlike the PMI published by ISM, Markit PMI only includes information from private companies. Purchasing managers complete a questionnaire, in which they assess the basic parameters of their work: input and output prices, employment, production, new orders, etc. The survey participants provide relative estimates: whether figures have increased, decreased or remain unchanged. Individual subindexes are calculated based on these answers. These subindexes characterize inflation, employment and other key indicators of economic activity.

Each response is weighted according to the size of a company and its contribution to the total production or services of the subsector it belongs to. Thus, the largest companies make a greater contribution to the indicator calculation.

The full version of the report includes individual subindexes, which characterize inflation, employment and other key indicators of economic activity. Separate subindexes are calculated for different sectors (NAICS classification is used).

The index is seasonally adjusted. Individual weights are given to polled companies. Readings above 50 indicate that most of respondents positively characterize current business conditions. Readings below 50 mean worsening of business conditions.

PMI is one of the most popular indexes closely watched by analysts. It provides operational information covering business activity in the entire US private sector. It is interpreted as a leading indicator of production and inflation. PMI growth is an indication of favorable changes in market conditions and can be seen as positive for the US dollar.