A sizable jump in services leads February's flashes, up nearly 4 points from January to 50.5 and well ahead of Econoday's consensus for 47.2. This is the first plus 50 score since all the way back in June though 50.5 is only marginally in the expansion zone, meaning that the services sample is reporting only very modest growth compared to January.

February's manufacturing flash of 47.8 is 5 tenths above Econoday's consensus but otherwise is soft and little changed from similar readings over the last four months. ISM manufacturing has similarly been below 50 the last three reports and today's result points to more of the same for next week's closely watched report.

New orders are a key negative for this month's flashes, falling sharply for manufacturers and also falling, though only slightly, for services. Output is increasing slightly so far this month for the services sample and is declining slightly for manufacturers.

Inflation readings are mixed: lower for inputs, higher for wages, and sharply higher for selling prices. Respondents continue to cite rising interest rates and high inflation as negatives for customers. Customer destocking is also noted.

Employment is a clear positive, accelerating to a five-month high for the combined samples and relfecting expectations of greater demand in the coming months. The 12-month outlook is at its best level since last May.

The better-than-expected results (new orders notwithstanding) are reflected in Econoday's Consensus Divergence Index, at 11 overall to indicate that US economic data continue to outperform expectations.

The PMI's have sunk into contraction, three months in a row for manufacturing and seven months in a row for services. Only the most marginal improvement is expected for February with manufacturing is seen at 47.3 with services at 47.2.

The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an early estimate of current private sector output by combining information obtained from surveys of around 1,000 manufacturing and service sector companies. The flash data are released around 10 days ahead of the final report and are typically based upon around 85 percent of the full survey sample. The report tracks changes in variables such as new orders, stock levels, employment and prices across both manufacturing and services. Production is also tracked, defined as"production" for manufacturing and"output" for services. Results are synthesized into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) output versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster output is growing (contracting). The report also contains flash estimates of the manufacturing and services PMIs. The data are produced by S&P Global.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the purchasing managers' manufacturing indexes, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures.