Figures released this morning show that the pace of expansion in Britain's manufacturing sector was the fastest in four years last month.
December's CIPS/Reuters purchasing managers' index recorded 56, compared with 54.7 in November. Any figure above 50 signals growth.
December's improvement was the tenth successive month of growth. Most of the survey's key indicators were above 50, showing that a global recovery was finally feeding through to British companies. New orders came in at 57.6, while the index for export orders was 56.
The employment index was 51.6, showing growth for the first time in several years. This was the highest jobs figure since May 1997.
Strong growth in demand was reported from the US, despite the dollar's weakness, while Asian and European export markets also improved.
* The euro zone PMI recorded 52.4 in December, compared with 52.2 in November.
