US: Markit Services PMI improves to 55 (final) in August, highest reading since March 2019

• US Markit Services PMI rose sharply in August.
• US Dollar Index stays below 93.00 after the data. 

The IHS Markit's Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the US improved from 50 in July to 55 in August to show that the economic activity in the service sector expanded at its strongest pace since March 2019. This reading came in slightly better than the flash estimate and the market expectation of 54.8.

Commenting on the data, “surging inflows of new business helped propel service sector activity higher in August, with the sector growing at its fastest rate for almost one and a half years," said Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at the IHS Markit. "Firms were often left struggling to meet demand and, despite taking on extra staff at a pace not seen for over six years, backlogs of uncompleted work accumulated at a rate exceeding anything recorded since 2009."

Market reaction

The greenback's reaction to this data was largely muted. As of writing, the US Dollar Index was up 0.2% on the day at 92.83.