Global economic growth at 40-month high in January
Staff Writer |
The start of 2018 saw a further solid and broad-based expansion of global economic activity, with growth rising to a 40-month high.
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Output increased across the six categories of manufacturing and service sector activity tracked and in almost all of the national PMI surveys available at the time of publication.
The J.P.Morgan Global All-Industry Output Index which is produced by J.P.Morgan and IHS Markit in association with ISM and IFPSM posted 54.6 in January, up from 54.3 in December.
The headline index has signalled expansion in each of the past 64 months.
Please note that a later than usual release date meant PMI data for Malaysia manufacturing were not available for inclusion in the global numbers.
The annual review of the global PMI weights has also been implemented, resulting in minor revisions to the time series histories from 2013 onwards.
Manufacturing production increased at a pace matching December 2017’s near seven-year high, while output growth in the service sector improved to the fastest in three months.
Economic activity increased at faster rates in four of the six sub-sectors covered by the survey (consumer and intermediate goods as well as consumer and financial services).
Output also expanded in the business services and intermediate goods categories.
National PMI data pointed to a broad-based upturn in world economic activity, with all of the nations for which all-industry data are available registering expansions.
The euro area remained a principal growth engine.
Eurozone output rose at the quickest pace in almost 12 years, with growth accelerating in Germany, Italy and Spain.
Rates of expansion also strengthened in China and Japan, while Brazil returned to growth following recent contractions.
Slower rates of increase were signalled for the US, the UK, India, Russia, Australia and Ireland.
Global all-industry new business rose at the quickest pace in over three-and-a-half years in January.
Strong new order growth tested capacity, leading to the steepest rise in backlogs of work since August 2007.
This in turn encouraged job creation, with employment increasing at the joint-fastest rate in a decade. ■