China’s factory orders fell for the second month in a row, with the Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) indicating further contraction in the country’s manufacturing activity in January.
Purchasing Managers Index
US factory orders surged by $11.5 billion, or 2.3 percent, in August to $510.5 billion, the largest month-on-month increase since September 2017, beating analysts’ expectations of a 2.1-percent growth. On a year-on-year basis, orders increased 8.6 percent.
According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Swiss economy expanded by 0.6 percent in the January-to-March quarter of 2018. The numbers more or less aligned with those in the previous three quarters, while exceeding market expectations of a 0.5-percent growth.
Economic activity in the US manufacturing sector expanded to 59.1 in January, with the sector growing for the 105th month in a row, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The January numbers were, however, slightly below the seasonally adjusted 59.3 reported in December.
The economy of the United States continued its growth trajectory heading into the last month of this year. While most of the economic announcements in November revealed robust growth, inflation continued to remain stubbornly below the central bank’s target of 2 percent