The US services sector’s heating up.

That was the message on Wednesday from a barnburner ISM release which found the marquee measure of services activity printing a big beat.

56.1 on the headline was 2.5ppt ahead of estimates and the highest since 2022.

As the figure shows, February marked the second month during which the ISM headlines printed in expansion territory together. Earlier this week, the factory gauge likewise beat estimates.

Some of the subindexes were quite lively in Wednesday’s release. The production measure nearly kissed 60, and new orders rose 5.5ppt to 58.6, the highest since September of 2024.

Although the price metric remained elevated, 63 actually counted as a big downside surprise. Consensus was looking for something north of 68.

Indeed, as the figure above shows, the services price measure now sits at an 11-month low. That’s a big relief coming as it does on the heels of a highly disconcerting spike on the factory-side price measure.

The employment index, meanwhile, touched a one-year high at 51.8.

All in all, this was a Goldilocks-style read on the largest part of the world’s largest economy. As our friends in the Mideast might put it, “Allahu Akbar!!!!!”