S&P Global said on Friday its flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 49.3 this month from a final reading of 44.6 in August.
The S&P Global survey, however, likely exaggerates the slowdown in economic activity. The Institute for Supply Management surveys have shown manufacturing and services industries growing steadily so far this year, challenging the notion that the economy was in recession. The economy is slowing as the Federal Reserve aggressively tightens monetary policy to cool demand and bring inflation back to the US central bank's 2% target.
The survey's flash manufacturing PMI nudged up to 51.8 this month from 51.5 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index slipping to 51.1. New orders grew for the first time in four months in September.