Global economy accelerates into 2011

According to purchasing managers surveys, the global economy accelerated in January, beginning 2011 on a strong note.

The JPMorgan global all-industry output index rose to 58.3 in January from 57.0 in December. The January reading was the highest since April 2006.

JPMorgan Global All-Industry Indices
	December	January
Output	57.0	58.3
New orders	56.4	58.7
Input prices	63.3	65.6
Employment	52.1	52.9

The rate of expansion accelerated in both the manufacturing and service sectors. The global manufacturing PMI rose to 57.2 in January from 55.6 in December while the global services business activity index rose to 58.2 from 56.9.

In the United States, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing PMI rose to 60.8 in January from 58.5 in December. The ISM's non-manufacturing index rose to 59.4 in December from 57.1 in December.

In the euro area, the Markit composite PMI rose to 57.0 in January from 55.5 in December. The manufacturing PMI rose to 57.3 in January from 57.1 in December while the services PMI rose to 55.9 from 54.2.

While most of the other major economies appear to be accelerating, Japan appears to be turning around. Markit's Japan composite PMI rose to 50.9 in January, the first time it was above the neutral 50 level since May last year. This was on the back of the manufacturing PMI reading above 50 for the first time in six months, rising to 51.4 in January from 48.3 in December. The services PMI edged up to 50.4 from 50.2.