activity in us factories accelerated in february on strong demand and improving supplychain bottlenecks according to a survey of purchasing managers for the sector published tuesday the ihs markit final us manufacturing pmi rose to 573 in february from 555 in january edging down from its preliminary reading of 575 economists polled by the wall street journal expected the pmi to stand at 575 the indicator signals that the us manufacturing sector continued to expandany reading above 50 indicates growthbut at a faster pace compared with the previous month the us manufacturing sector rebounded in february after the omicron wave brought production close to a standstill in january said chris williamson chief business economist at ihs markit manufacturers registered an upturn in production during the month and a sharp increase in new orders the report said stronger new sales growth spurred firms to increase staffing numbers and boost stocks of purchases it said production remains constrained both by raw material supply bottlenecks and labor shortages but there were signs that these problems continued to ease ihs markit said the decline in virus case numbers should also help alleviate labor shortages as we head into the spring mr williamson said less severe supply disruptions led to a slower increase in input prices the rate of cost inflation eased to the softest in nine months but remained historically elevated amid higher material and transportation fees the report said despite a softer rise in input costs firms were able to increase their selling prices at a sharper pace in february februarys survey didnt capture any effect from the war in ukraine as data was collected before the escalation of the conflict supply chains are likely to be further disrupted with existing shortages exacerbated by safety stock building and prices will likely come under further upward pressure mr williamson said