We have for some time talked about an American manufacturing renaissance. And this boom happens to come at a time when manufacturing is declining in some of the biggest economies in the world, including Germany and China.
Flash PMI in the U.S. was at 51.9 in August, above the contractionary reading of 50. Meanwhile, China's flash PMI plunged to 47.5 and German flash PMI climbed to 45.1.
This chart from Reuters' Scotty Barber shows that American manufacturing is in better shape than China and Europe, and has been above the contractionary level since early 2009.
chart of the day, global manufacturing pmi, august 2012