U.S. Business Activity Hits 5-Year High as AI Boom Drives 4% GDP Pace
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Sep 28
U.S. Business Activity Hits 5-Year High as AI Boom Drives 4% GDP Pace
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Sep 28
Summary
S&P Global’s latest survey showed U.S. business activity accelerated at its fastest pace in more than five years, with stronger employment and manufacturing output pointing to roughly 4% GDP growth over the past three months.
AI investment and still-resilient consumer spending are driving that strength even as oil tops $100 a barrel, gasoline stays above $4 a gallon and mortgage rates exceed 7%.
Unemployment has fallen back to 4.1%, and new jobless claims were near 57-year lows last week, reinforcing the picture of an economy that keeps expanding despite voter gloom over affordability.
That resilience could bring another Fed rate hike before year-end, while a looming global diesel shortage, war-related energy shocks and any pullback in AI returns threaten to raise costs and slow momentum.