We now have two of the five regional business surveys conducted during August by the Federal Reserve district banks of NY and Philly:
(1) NY was very weak, while Philly offset some of that weakness. The average of the two composites of business activity fell in August to -12.6, the lowest reading since the 2020 rebound from the lockdown recession. Collectively they suggest that August's M-PMI might show a drop below 50.0 (from 52.8 in July) when it is reported at the start of September.
(2) The good news is that the prices-paid and prices-received indexes have been falling since the start of this year, suggesting that inflationary pressures are easing quickly. However, both remain relatively high.
