Manufacturing activity

Surveys of purchasing managers by Markit,a research firm,suggest that manufacturing expanded at a faster pace in August than a year earlier in most countries. A year ago,11 countries had purchasing managers indices PMIs below 50,indicating that manufacturing industries there were still contracting. Now,contraction is apparent in only three of the 25 countries for which August data are available. After dipping into contractionary terrain in July,Chinas August PMI of 51.9 once again signalled growth,though Chinese manufacturing has clearly slowed from a year earlier. In America,the Institute of Supply Managements index for August pointed to growth for the 13th month in a row.