One of the first looks at how the economy is doing in the New Year shows a further upturn in business conditions across the U.S. manufacturing sector, but the overall rate of improvement eased further from last August’s peak. This was highlighted by a drop in the seasonally adjusted Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index from 53.9 in December to 53.7 in January, published Friday by the financial information services provider Markit Economics.
