Markit's US manufacturing PMI ticks up in July

Markit’s final US manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.9 in July from 51.3 the month before, in line with the flash reading.

Improving business conditions reflected stronger rates of output, new orders and employment growth during the latest survey period, Markit said.

Domestic demand was still the key driver of growth last month but there were also signs of renewed momentum in external markets, with export sales expanding at the fastest pace since September 2014.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: “The stronger manufacturing PMI survey data for July fuel hopes that the sector will act as less of drag on the economy in the third quarter after a disappointing first half of the year.

“Having signalled the sector’s worst performance for over six years in the second quarter, contributing to a sluggishness in the economy that was later seen in the soft GDP numbers, the improvement in July suggests that manufacturers and exporters will have helped lift the economy at the start of the third quarter.”

Dennis de Jong,managing director at UFX.com, said: "Janet Yellen will be pleased that the manufacturing numbers are holding somewhere close to June’s high watermark, showing that production in the US is in relatively rude health.

“With encouraging job data and a strong dollar adding to the positive outlook for the world’s largest economy, thoughts at the Fed will be back to whether an interest rate rise could now be on the cards."