Data for December signaled the strong end of the year for the US manufacturing sector, and the overall business environment improved at the fastest pace since March 2015. Strong rise in new orders and production volume led to the fastest pace of job creation and a half years. At the same time, the increased costs of customers and optimistic business confidence have led to the largest accumulation of inventories in August, 2014.

Seasonally adjusted, the US manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) released by Markit rose to 54.3 in December from 54.1 in November, and signaled a strong improvement in the business environment.