Chicago PMI surges past expectations in January

The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ index rose to 55.6 in January from 42.9 the previous month.

The data, released by the Institute for Supply Management, comfortably beat economists’ expectations for a reading of 45.3 and marked the highest pace of growth in a year.

Chief economist of MNI Indicators, Philip Uglow, said: “While the surge in activity in January marks a positive start to the year, it follows significant weakness in the previous two months, with the latest rise not sufficient to offset the previous falls in output and orders.

“Previously, surges of such magnitude have not been maintained so we would expect to see some easing in February. Still, even if activity does moderate somewhat next month, the latest increase supports the view that GDP will bounce back in Q1 following the expected slowdown in Q4.”