PMI jumps to a four-month high as firms and shoppers spend

The S&P Global composite PMI climbed to 52.5 in August, a four-month high and above economists' expectations, signalling the private sector accelerated at the end of the summer.

Anything above 50 indicates expansion, and the size of the beat matters more than the level: surveys had been drifting sideways, and this is the clearest sign yet that the soft second quarter was a slowdown rather than a stall.

The detail chimes with the consumer data published the same week — services activity strengthening and confidence at a two-year high — pointing to household spending as the engine.

PMIs are sentiment surveys, not output measures, and they can overshoot in both directions. But as an early read on the third quarter, this one is unambiguously positive.