US Economy Expanding Rapidly, Alternative Facts Suggest

Not all the data was ominous. Preliminary US PMIs for March suggested the world's largest economy expanded at the briskest pace in eight months. That, despite a chorus of warnings about an imminent deceleration and amid abysmal consumer sentiment tied to the hottest inflation in a generation. The flash read on the S&P Global composite index for March was 58.5, well above the 55.9 consensus expected, and the highest since July. The services gauge was similarly buoyant (figure below), as wa