Acceleration in US growth pulls up global economy

The global economy accelerated in November, thanks to the United States.

A report published by Markit Economics last week based on surveys of purchasing managers around the world showed that the JPMorgan global all-industry output index rose to 54.3 in November from 52.1 in October.

According to Markit, the main driving factors behind the rise in the output index were strong rebounds in the rates of expansion in the US services and manufacturing sectors, which sent Markit's US composite output index to 56.2 in November from 49.6 in October after a sharp decline in October.

Corroborating the signals from the purchasing managers surveys, a report from the Labor Department on Friday showed that US nonfarm payrolls increased by 203,000 in November, the biggest rise in three months. The gains in employment brought the unemployment rate down to 7.0 percent from 7.3 percent in October.

Also on Friday, the preliminary reading of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for December came out at 82.5, well up from 75.1 in November.

Elsewhere, growth also accelerated in China. Markit reported last week that the HSBC composite output index for China rose to 52.3 in November from 51.8 in October.

And on Sunday, China's General Administration of Customs reported that exports rose 12.7 percent in November from a year earlier, well up from a 5.6 percent increase in October. Growth in imports slowed though to 5.3 percent from 7.6 percent.

Growth was more subdued in November in the other major developed economies though. In the euro area, Markit's composite output index fell to 51.7 in November from 51.9 in October, while in Japan, Markit's composite output index fell to 54.0 from 56.0.