Milan's shock 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina earlier in the day gave Juventus the chance to return to the top of the table - and Antonio Conte's side dominated from the start.
The visitors spurned several first-half chances but made the breakthrough courtesy of Leonardo Bonucci's towering header.
Fabio Quagliarella added a second with a neat finish into the bottom corner to put Juventus a point clear of Milan as the Old Lady chase their first Scudetto since 2003.
Following Milan’s shock home defeat by Fiorentina earlier in the day, Juventus were not short of motivation as they bombarded the Palermo goal early on with Quagliarella only finding the side-netting with the best of the Juventus chances.
Juventus were utterly dominant in the first half and a mix-up between Palermo defender Ezequiel Munoz and goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano at the back almost handed the visitors the lead, but Mirko Vucinic was unable to steer the ball in from a tight angle after nipping in.
Palermo had their back to the walls for much of the first 45 minutes and were forced to repel further efforts from Vucinic, Martin Caceres and a string over long-range efforts by Andrea Pirlo.
Palermo came out fighting at the start of the second half but it took Juventus only ten minutes to grab the goal they deserved for their dominance – and it came courtesy of a defender.
Rising high at the near post, Bonucci’s glancing header from Pirlo’s inswinging corner flew in off the far post, triggering wild celebrations by the travelling support.
Palermo created their best chances after going behind and could have drawn level when Fabrizio Miccoli’s trickery got him past Giorgio Chiellini but his low cross couldn’t reach Josip Ilicic, who was sliding in at the far post.
That miss proved costly as Juventus doubled their lead moments later through Quagliarella, who capped a fine performance with the goal he deserved, collecting Alessandro Matri’s lay-off before guiding the ball into the bottom corner with an assured left-footed finish.
