MANUFACTURING BOOM IN US
A survey by the Institute for Supply Management shows that the factory index, a tool measuring factory activity, climbed from 58.2 to
59.7 in December 2017 and the measure of new orders rose to 69.4, the highest ever recorded by a growing manufacturing sector since January 2004. The heightened activity brings the 2017 average to
57.6, the best in 13 years.