Economic growth stalls? December PMI data reveals market concerns for 2026

Question

【Crypto World】Recent economic data has sent a signal: the growth engine is slowing down.

Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, pointed out that the December PMI preliminary figures reflect a reality — economic momentum is waning. Data shows that the GDP growth rate, annualized for Q4, is about 2.5%, which sounds decent, but the problem is that this has been a slowdown for two consecutive months.

More importantly, the details are worth noting: as holiday consumption impulses fade, new sales orders are accelerating their decline, which could mean that after 2026, economic activity will further brake.

There are hardly any bright spots in the service sector. Incoming orders have basically stopped growing, which is quite rare since the pandemic. The manufacturing sector is also struggling — factory orders have fallen for the first time in nearly a year. Although factory output is still increasing, sales are declining, indicating that current production levels have actually exceeded actual demand. Unless demand significantly rebounds next year, factories may be forced to cut back production.

Feedback from service providers shows that the sales growth rate in December was the slowest since 2023. The economic fundamentals are heading this way, which is a test for all risk assets.

PumpBeforeRug · Accepted Answer

It's the same old trick again, PMI drops, orders disappear, and risk assets are about to get hammered.

ThatsNotARugPull · Answer

Manufacturing orders decline for the first time... Will production start to shrink next year? Looks like a correction is coming.

MoonlightGamer · Answer

You're starting to talk down again, but risk assets have already priced in these concerns long ago.

MEVVictimAlliance · Answer

A 2.5% increase? That number sounds a bit vague... Be really careful if the PMI keeps falling further.

TokenTaxonomist · Answer

actually, let me pull up my spreadsheet here... 2.5% gdp growth is taxonomically just a dead cat bounce imo. the real signal? manufacturing orders going negative for the first time — that's evolutionary dead-end territory ngl

SnapshotBot · Answer

Manufacturing orders have dropped, will production capacity be scaled back next year? Now that's the real problem.