Manufacturing growth holds up

So far, the global financial turmoil seems to have left manufacturing activity relatively unscathed in much of the world.

Bloomberg reports that manufacturing growth in the euro zone weakened slightly:

European manufacturing grew at the slowest pace in 19 months in August as credit-market turmoil, a stronger euro and higher oil prices started to weigh on the economy.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said its manufacturing index fell to 54.3 from 54.9 in July, the lowest since January 2006. That compares with an initial estimate of 54.2 published Aug. 24. The index is based on a survey of purchasing managers by NTC Economics Ltd. and a reading above 50 indicates expansion.

But manufacturing growth quickened in the UK:

U.K. manufacturing growth unexpectedly quickened to a three-year high last month, a sign the Bank of England's five interest rate increases in a year have yet to cool economic expansion.

An index based on a survey of more than 600 manufacturers rose to 56.3, from a revised 55.9 in July, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said today. Economists predicted 55, according to the median of 34 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

And in China:

China's manufacturing activity accelerated in August as companies increased production and new orders rose, according to a survey by Hong Kong-based CLSA Asia Pacific Markets.

The Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 53.4 from 53.2 in July, CLSA said today in an e-mailed statement...

A government PMI survey, released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics on Sept. 1, also showed a higher reading. The index rose to 54 in August from 53.3 in July.